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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28880022">Finding Serenity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helmsman/pseuds/Helmsman'>Helmsman</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magayla/pseuds/Magayla'>Magayla</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Assault, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Minor Character Death, Murder, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Self-Defense, Self-Harm, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Supernatural Elements, Teenagers, Werewolves Turn Into Actual Wolves, Wolves, young adult</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:47:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>42,962</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28880022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helmsman/pseuds/Helmsman, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magayla/pseuds/Magayla</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When a young wolf has been faced with the decimation of his pack and his culture at the hands of man, he has little choice but to leave the fate of his kind in the hands of their creator. Will his gamble ultimately succeed or will they lose everything they have left to the upright beasts they came to call man?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Female Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi all! This will be my first creation on Archive Of Our Own and I just want to personally say thanks to every one who spends time reading this story! This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story. I have no set upload schedule, but will be hoping to get chapters out once every week to two weeks.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Rick Leonard.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We don’t know how we came to be, only that we stemmed from a singular creator and that our Great Mother, Bendis, walked among us in two earthly forms: a great white wolf and a human with hair white as snow. It is said that when she spilled her blood across the lands and returned to the sky to light our nights, she left meadows of snapdragons and dahlia’s as white as the moon in her wake. There were many written tales of our creation over the millennia that once we were pushed out of our lands we lost sight of which was true after the wars claimed our history books as casualties. With our lack of progression into what would come to be called the modern world and our ever growing population, we were pushed to the brink of extinction. Resources became gradually more scarce and war erupted between the packs to gain control of prime grounds. In the process, we lost our written history, our legends and prophecies, we lost our individual languages and the cultural practices of the packs vanished. Soon, our earthbound forms were no longer able to change. We lost the gift our Great Mother had given us and all we had left of her memory was the cries of our prayers.</p><p>That is when they came. Crossing the vast sea to the land that we were damned to live, love, fight and die on. In forms we hadn’t seen in centuries, these upright beasts came from the sea on the corpses of trees, with four legged beasts of their own in shackles. They claimed our sacred meadows and released their beasts into them. As if it weren’t a sick enough joke, some of the beasts looked like us but were far smaller. For a time, we fought back. We took many lives and painted the sacred meadows red with the blood of beast and wolf alike; along with the blood of what we came to call man. That was until they came at us with loud sticks fueled by fire. It was a devastating time for the packs, as we were not united in our fight for survival. It was a deadly cycle of wolf versus man, versus wolf. We remember watching our kin fall to the loud explosion from their strange weapons, their bodies turned to food or bodily coverings of the new invaders. Myself and the mother of my children were not spared this.</p><p>Of the many packs that our Great Mother blessed us with, we were left with five— we numbered less than sixty and verged on extinction. I remember praying to our Great Mother, pleading her for salvation and for her to lead us forward and help us to break the shackles that man had placed upon us—but I went unheard. I felt I would be the last leader of my pack and my hope for our people diminished. I feared for my sons and my daughters until the day I was sent back to the Great Mother where she welcomed me with loving arms.</p><p>Returning to her was difficult, as I had never once been in a human form. Like my people before me, I had forgotten that we could walk among man. Our vast history was returned to me along with all the memories of those who came before. I stood with her in the dark void that was her home and told her of my fears for our people. I questioned why she gave us life if she wouldn’t help us to keep it and pleaded with her for salvation. But I was only met with a pensive stare and a gentle hand placed on top of my head. Alas there is nothing now that I can do, aside from look down to the earthen realm and watch my children patiently until the day they were returned to me and the Great Mother.</p><p>-Present Day-</p><p>The air hung heavy and thick with the metallic stench of his people's blood. With wide amber eyes, he looked around at the horror before him. He hadn’t foreseen this attack on his pack. It’d been many moons since the last battle his people faced, and now they were all gone.</p><p>They already numbered few, so when the Stony Brook pack launched their vicious assault they simply didn’t stand a chance. The most horrendous sight for Eros was watching his mate scream as she was ripped from her den. Her mournful cries as the squeals of their dying pups filled the black of the night pushed Eros beyond his breaking point. Swinging his head directly up, he knocked the wolf pinning him off balance and took his chance to turn and clamp down on their exposed throat. A snarl ripped from his throat as he battled to over-power the wolf. With a harsh movement, Eros yanked his head to the left and a grotesque tearing sound could be heard as the throat of the wolf before him began to give way. It let out a gurgling whine as it collapsed, and Eros took the opportunity to release his bite before latching on again with a squelch from above the wolf and wildly thrashing. The damage would be irreversible, and there was no doubt the wolf under him would bleed out within moments.</p><p>He abandoned the wolf to run to the aid of his mate when she was overcome and knocked to the ground by the Stony Brook’s alpha. Terror overcame him as he rushed forward.</p><p>“Psyche!” he screamed in terror, and her head jerked in his direction.</p><p>“No! Forget me! Take our pups and go!” she screamed.</p><p>Knowing she had to distract them from the den, she clawed against the alpha of the opposing pack and readjusted enough to latch onto his face and wildly thrash. The alpha cried out in agony and released her from his bite momentarily to escape the she-wolf's slicing bite. Psyche seized this opportunity and made a dash from the clearing back into the forest, crying out with the pain each step inflicted on her now broken body. Stony Brook were now whipped up into an all out frenzy over the assault on their alpha, and gave chase to Psyche.</p><p>Eros was devastated as he watched her limping into the woods. But he didn’t have much time. He was sure they would make quick work of his love and then come back to finish their battle. Slinking toward the den, he slipped through the narrow opening and was greeted with the horrific sight of his dead pups. They must have been killed in the process of their mother being dragged from them. Nosing their cold bodies, he mourned them deeply. Eros was ready beyond all measure to die and return to the Great Mother–just as his father had–when he heard that precious little sound. A small whimper came from a singular blood soaked pup, Eros didn’t even know which of his young it was, it was that unrecognisable. If he didn’t act now, they would both die in this slaughter. He snatched up his pup in gentle jaws and dashed for the exit of the den. He ran off into the dark of night, away from his pups and mate, who would surely be joining the Great Mother soon.</p><p>Cradling his new born pup delicately in his powerful jaws, he trotted slowly towards the stream near to their den. He looked down at his reflection, peering into the vision of himself with amber eyes, his child reflecting the rest of his dark blood splattered coat. It would be cold, but possibly their best chance at survival. Stepping carefully from the bank into the stream his large paws carried them as swiftly as his injured body would allow. The flowing of the water kept the sound of his breathing and footfalls covered as he made his way upstream. It was a struggle to keep purchase on such slippery ground, but he had to try his best.</p><p>The further they traveled from the pack lands he had held—and known his entire life—the uneasier he became. Eros was at a loss for what he should do for the sake of himself and his one surviving pup. Becoming too tired to continue, he left the stream and climbed up the right side of the bank to continue trotting into now unknown territory. He should be safe out here for the time being, as he was venturing deeper and deeper into the land that man once stole from them.</p><p>His nose twitched as the scent of smoke reached his nostrils. He was close enough to the village now that the wolves of Stony Brook for certain wouldn’t chase him this far. Finding a good spot under a lush thicket, he curled up on the ground and placed his pup at the warmth of his stomach. The pup was still drenched in blood, and so he busied himself with grooming them. With each lap of his tongue, the pups chocolate fur was cleansed. Finally recognizing the pup his heart clenched with anguish. She looked just like her mother even down to her black tipped markings. Eros sighed deeply as he curled around his daughter's tiny body, wondering just what it was that he should do. He tried his best to keep her warm without the protection of the den and pulled his tail over his nose. He spent a moment in deep thought before his eyes slowly began to close. He whispered a prayer to the Great Mother to watch over and protect his daughter in the times to come, and then he drifted off to sleep.</p><p>The sun was beginning to rise, bringing morning light to the meadow. Eros’ eyes slowly blinked upon and a yawn stretched across his face. He carefully untucked himself to check on his pup who should be undoubtedly hungry by now, and gently picked up the squirming mass. Rising to his feet he stared across the meadow to the human settlement. He had gotten closer than intended, and that's when a thought struck him. It was dangerous, but there was the possibility it could work and ensure his daughter’s safety. He could leave his child among the humans, have her learn their ways. Perhaps, if she was able to observe, come time for him to return to collect her, it would be possible to overturn their oppressors in the future. He didn’t have much in the way of options in the first place. Finding a new positioning within another pack as a male would be hard enough, and a pup would be considered a threat to the alpha pair's own offspring. She could be killed if he took her with him, and equally so if he left her behind to the humans.</p><p>Eros found his resolve and slunk toward the human settlement, careful to remain quiet, and his feelings reflected in his dejected body language. He was, to say the least, devastated. In the space of mere hours he had lost everything and was left to place a heavy future on his only remaining child.</p><p>As Eros neared the settlement littered with strange structures he slowed his pace, amber eyes sweeping over the area. Not a single man beast was up and roaming. Padding to the side of one of the structures, he placed his daughter carefully in the bed of flowers yet to come to bloom and gave her tiny chocolate brown form a last loving lick. She nosed around and whimpered, trying to seek a warm body for food. Eros looked to a sky painted red with the rising sun.</p><p>“Father, watch over my family until we are reunited once more. Great mother, please save us. I can’t do any more for her here,” he whispered.</p><p>Eros turned in place and ran from his child, his mournful cry rang out across the meadow. Then, as if the Great Mother herself had heard one of her children’s cries, dozens of pale white snapdragons and dahlias began to bloom around the young pup’s body, enveloping it in a cradle of flowers. Muffled whimpers of a precious pup became the desperate, pained and boisterous cries of a human baby.</p><p>The echo of pops and cracks of the shifting bones had long since ceased, but the manic screaming of the child’s panicked state remained. Her tiny eyes opening for the first time, flooded with light she had never known. Her tiny arms and hands reached out to anything she could grab for comfort, while her little legs kicked wildly and her tiny lungs bellowed.</p><p>Several sounds then came all at once. Creatures with a foreign tongue calling to each other as steps rushed around the settlement trying to locate the cries. That was when one of them came into view, pale, upright and furless, their dark brown eyes bearing into the baby’s tiny face.<br/>
“Father! Father, come look!” it cried, its small frame making to brush off the strange flowers and picking up the baby in its arms.</p><p>More foreign sounds reached the small being’s ears and she wailed. Tiny eyes brimming with tears as a new shape appeared in her vision. The tall creature looked down at her, and then gently took her from the smaller creature's arms.</p><p>“It’s..a baby? I wonder what happened to her parents.. perhaps that wolf got them?” he muttered, voice laced with concern while he rocked her, “Come daughter, we must find where this little one belongs, if it does.” He ushered his daughter on, cradling the infant in one arm, and coaxing his daughter to move with the other. He made gentle cooing sounds to try and soothe the baby's wild temper while walking toward the town centre.</p><p>The morning sleep of the town was now tossed aside as onlookers stepped outside of their front doors. Concern and irritation were evident on their features as they watched the man with the screaming baby in arm and child in tow walk toward the center of their little town. A most unusual little creature she was. As he looked down to her, a small smile graced his lips. Her hair white as snow, and eyes as blue as the springtime skies. “I don’t think this world is ready for you, little one.” he mused, more to himself than anyone else.</p><p>From the darkness of her void, The Great Mother peered down at the two foreign creatures. She considered the comment for a moment, the corners of her lips quirking. Then she smiled, and with a sadistic chuckle, turned away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Forming connections</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Young Amity forms a connection with a persistent human boy, and her ancestors are not pleased about it and are determined to put an end to it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi all! This will be my first creation on Archive Of Our Own and I just want to personally say thanks to every one who spends time reading this story! Please leave comments, I would love to see what your thoughts and hopes are and I do love feedback! This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story. I have no set upload schedule, but will be hoping to get chapters out once every week to two weeks. This is a work in progress at present and I hope you enjoy it!</p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Richard Leonard.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Time seemed to pass by so quickly in the void. Day’s turned to weeks, months, and then years within the blink of an eye. For Bendis’ children, it was of course much slower than that. She stood with stony resolve, looking down on the child who she had returned the gift of shifting to—then turned her gaze to the child’s grandfather, Ares, who stood beside her in the void. A small smile formed on his features as he watched the baby girl grow. He watched her take her first steps and say her first words. Now Bendis watched his crestfallen face as she was taken home from the orphanage she was placed in by an unfamiliar man and woman. </p><p>“My sweet girl. She had parents. Tell me why it had to be this way Bendis.. Please,” Ares whispered. He searched her face for answers he knew she wouldn’t give and sighed deeply before returning his gaze to his beloved grandchild.</p><p>His thoughts then went to his son's mate. It was some time now since she had first been to the void, but she was not the same carefree and life loving she-wolf he remembered. She had so far refused to come and see her only living daughter. She chose to go beyond the void to the undying meadow, with her sons and daughters that were cruelly murdered that night. Even when her mate's father would visit to plead with her to see how she had grown, she would turn her back on him without a word. It was then that he decided in the case that her birth mother would not watch over her, he would stay in her stead so that she wouldn’t feel truly alone. </p><p>He thought back to the day that she was taken to the orphanage. Naturally the townspeople couldn’t find the girl's parents and they assumed that she had either been completely abandoned, or that the wilderness had taken them. That was when he heard the townspeople muttering about this not being the first time this had happened in the last hundred years, and to simply send her across the seas to the orphanage on the mainland. He remembered how confused he had felt as he turned to Bendis.</p><p>“Bendis, what do they mean?” he had asked, confusion lacing his voice.</p><p>“Never you mind, my son. Just a failed experiment some time ago,” she said in a hushed voice, resting a slender pale hand on his shoulder, “Keep watch over the small one. I must go check on my other children.” She had smiled sweetly before leaving him to the silence of the void.</p><p>And so he continued to watch on with sadness as new parents took her small form away. The human parents cooed to the toddler and whispered sweet nothings, joy etched across their faces. For as happy as they looked to care for his grandchild, he couldn’t help the hate that spewed from his heart. He hoped that one day, they would die at the hands of his kind—something he believed all of man deserved. </p><p>He watched on as the humans took the baby girl into what he had come to learn, was not called a structure, but a house. It was decently sized, with room he knew the girl would need to grow and become strong. The Humans placed her down onto a soft mattress, placing a blanket over the girl's body as they hushed her protests and smoothed her pale hair with gentle hands. </p><p>“Sleep now, our little Amity,” they cooed. </p><p>Sitting quietly on the edge of the void, Ares continued to watch as Amity’s life played out before his eyes. He directed his love, rage and fear toward her as he watched her celebrate another year since her birth with her adoptive family. She should be doing this with her own fucking parents! he thought viciously, hitting the ground out of frustration with a closed fist.</p><p>“Now, now, Ares, if you continue like this you will overwhelm her too soon,” Bendis tutted, footsteps barely making a sound as she advanced toward him. She placed a gentle hand on his head from her standing position. “How are you my son? It’s been a long time since you have taken a break from being her watcher. Do you not think it is time to take a step back for a short while?” she asked gently. </p><p>Ares huffed and looked away from The Great Mother. So long as Amity’s mother didn’t come he would not leave her. Not so young and vulnerable. He would be ready to cross to the undying meadow for a short break when he believed that Amity had a handle on things on her own. His gaze lifted to The Great Mother and the contempt on his face softened for a moment as she looked at him lovingly. She did not birth him, but he still felt like from the outside looking in, she was a mother admonishing her pup.</p><p>“Bendis, you know I can’t take a break. Not yet. I promise I will soon. I’m not tired yet,” he spoke with conviction. He meant his words. With a blank look, she simply nodded and turned her head to watch on as the girl celebrated.</p><p>Seven short years of life was all she had been given so far, and she had grown so much in such a short time. From a tiny infant, to a sprouting young girl with icy hair and bright blue eyes full of wonder and life. Bendis would be lying if she said she wasn’t proud of her child. She was learning how to be human, and she was good at it. This will not be like last time, she thought. She would not underestimate the enemy any longer. Although, for as much as she hated these humans she could not help the quirk of her lips while watching her child playing with them. She seemed genuinely happy. This is what her children all deserved from the start, happiness so untainted. And one day soon Bendis would give it back to them.</p><p>Time continued to spin and her seventh year became her eighth, became her ninth, became her tenth. She was quite adept at her school work and while not the most intelligent student, she still did well to stay toward the top of her class. Her mind was like a sponge, she had an unexplainable desire to learn as much as possible. She was not as sociable as her parents hoped she might be; sometimes Ares would catch them frowning at her when her head was stuck in a book while the sounds of children playing in the streets filled the air. They would mutter their concerns to one another, but decided not to confront her, ultimately deciding to trust Amity’s process. No one could be forced to be social after all.</p><p>Bendis and her children had been counting on that. Connections will only get in the way.</p><p>Sun filtered in through a crack in the blinds, lighting the dark room and landing on Amity’s closed eyes. She began to stir as her eyes squeezed further from the discomfort of the new light. Another day, another school year, she thought to herself. Raising a pale hand to cover her eyes, she threw back her bedsheets with the other and got out of bed. Making her way to her window she pulled open the blinds and observed the day outside. A pale blue sky with a smattering of clouds and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves adorning branches of trees on the quiet suburban street.</p><p>Turning away from the window, she headed toward her wardrobe to consider what she would wear for the day. Flicking delicately from coat hanger to coat hanger, she pulled out a simple black t-shirt and light brown shorts from the tallboy drawers, then headed to the bathroom to prepare for the day.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>She stood silently on the sidewalk, breeze blowing her thick pale strands softly. She heard the familiar sound of the bus’s struggling engine. How old that bus was she didn’t care to guess, but it was certainly much older than her. The bus pulled up to the sidewalk, doors sliding open as she stepped up to meet it. As always, she kept to herself with her nose in a book, ignoring the screaming of children around her.</p><p>The bell rang loudly as Amity took her seat toward the back of the classroom, students slowly filtering in and talking amongst themselves. Most of these kids she recognized, and many of them gave her a wide berth. Some tried to poke fun at her over the years but she was so non-reactionary that eventually they stopped caring and gave in, ultimately deciding to leave her alone. That is, until someone took the seat in front of her and turned to look at her.</p><p>Amity’s blue eyes darted from their spot on the page to the newcomer’s face. Hm, someone new? I haven’t seen them around before, she thought briefly. She quirked a brow as she took in this new person that was watching them closely. It was a boy. His head topped with a mess of shaggy auburn hair, a smattering of freckles across his face and lovely hazel eyes, a wide smile spread across his face. Amity felt an unfamiliar heat rise to her cheeks as an unknown feeling coursed through her body. The boy ignored the pinkness on her cheeks and waved enthusiastically at her.</p><p>“Hey there, I’m Kyle—Kyle Peters! I’m new here. Who’re you?” he questioned with a tilt of his head as he watched her curiously.</p><p>“Amity Laine..” she grunted, irritation evident in her tone. She looked away from him and back down to her book, pulling it up closer to her face, trying to hide away from the strange boy who was trying to converse with her.</p><p>With a semi-perplexed look on his face, he turned forward again in his chair, throwing a sidelong glance in her direction before refocusing his attention on the teacher at the front of the classroom. </p><p>Later that week, Amity had missed one of her alarm’s and risen much later than she anticipated. With a string of curses, she threw back the covers on her bed, practically flying into her wardrobe and grabbing anything her hands landed on to wear for the day. She was so late she ignored the leftover breakfast left for her on the kitchen table and her school bag by the front door. The school wasn’t overly far, but it was still heavy exercise alternating between jogging and sprinting to get to class for a girl her age.</p><p>Amity pushed open the school’s front doors and ran through the corridor to her classroom, stopping at the door with her hands on her knees, body shaking as she breathed in deeply trying to catch her breath and regain her composure. Slowly righting her posture, she knocked on the classroom door before pushing it open. A scarlet blush crept up her skin, painting her cheeks a bright pink as her classmates turned to look at her. Some covered their mouths and snickered at her disheveled state.<br/>
Her teacher crossed his arms, giving her a pointed look as she cast her eyes at the floor.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I missed my alarm,” she muttered softly. </p><p>Her teacher sighed and pointed to her seat. “Never mind—just don’t go making it a habit. Sit,” he said authoritatively, before returning to giving his lesson in modern history. </p><p>Amity quickly walked to the back of the classroom and took a seat at her desk. Reaching down to take out a notebook and a pen, her eyes slowly widened realizing there was nothing for her hand to grasp. She’d left everything at home. She groaned quietly and smacked her head on her desk, prompting a few curious glances from her classmates. She couldn’t believe she had to do this.</p><p>Slowly, she reached out her hand and tapped the boy—Kyle, she remembered—on his shoulder. He jumped at the sudden action, and slowly turned to look at her, an eyebrow raised as he looked over her disheveled appearance.</p><p>“What’s up Amity, you ok?” he asked her quietly. She shook her head quickly.</p><p>“I woke up really late, I forgot to grab my bag on the way out of the door.. Can I borrow a pen and paper? Please?” she asked softly. </p><p>Kyle regarded her with a pensive stare before slowly nodding. Turning back around, Amity could hear the ripping of paper as he tore out a few pages to last her the day. When he turned back to her, he handed her the paper and then held out the pen. Just as Amity’s hand began to close around the pen, he quickly yanked it away and held it above his head drawing out a frown and frustrated grunt from the typically unfriendly girl. A cheeky smile spread across his features.</p><p>“Friends?” he asked, as he held out the pen to her again.</p><p>“Friends,” she groaned, as she took the pen from him.</p><p>He was nothing if not persistent. She had previously not had any need for friends, and was just as fine and happy with her books. Then he came along, all friendly and happy and wanting a friend for the school yard. He was determined that it would be Amity and she was unable to change his mind—which suited him just fine.</p><p>There was the palpable feeling of disappointment and anger hanging in the air of the void as Ares and Bendis watched Amity from above. Ares was absolutely seething. He looked up to Bendis from his seated position on the ground, a deep scowl across his face.</p><p>“She’s befriended a human. A human, Bendis!” A vein looked like it was about to burst as Ares screamed. As if realizing his mistake, he lost the color in his face and muttered hushed apologies to The Great Mother.</p><p>“Ever speak to me like that again, my son, and you will not have a choice about staying here. I will send you to the undying meadow, permanently. Am I understood?” she ground out with a ferocity that she was glad had not been witnessed by her other children thus far in all her thousands of years.</p><p>He gave a short and quick nod, before standing to his full height; a height that did not reach the impressive stature of Bendis.</p><p>“I must ask though, Bendis, what do we do about this? Does this not weigh down your plans? Her befriending these creatures will only make it harder for her when she is to return to her people,” he whispered.</p><p>Bendis simply nodded in agreement. It would make it much more difficult to achieve the goals she had laid out for the future. But this is what she had to live with when her children were not created with the sole purpose of fulfilling her every whim. They still had free will. And it was an unfortunate choice in Bendis’ eyes, that one of her beloved children would befriend a devil. She could feel the rage within her building as she scowled down at the child. Ares sat next to her, feeding on the dark energy as he too glowered at his granddaughter. </p><p>“You are her grandfather, if you are strong enough and she is weak willed enough, you may be able to influence her emotions. Do something about this, Ares,” her voice echoed in the void as she walked away, leaving him in his rage.</p><p>And so Ares did. Yet try as he might to influence her with his rage, she would not give up on her friend. Others did however feed off of her own negative emotions that hung around her, and it brought forward horrid behavior and human emotion that she herself had not seen to such a degree. She and her friend were not previously bullied or picked on by school mates; but this new behavior eventually got so bad that they would frequently come to blows with other students. They were like vultures. When she didn’t care and paid them no heed, they got too bored to act on the wish to emotionally torture—but that was before she had something to protect. And now, her hurt watered the seed of hatred in her mind for humanity itself.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Growing Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Years of Amity's life have passed by quickly under the watchful eye of her ancestors. After years of feeling inner turmoil, she finally gets to experience inner peace. But at what cost?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi all! This will be my first creation on Archive Of Our Own and I just want to personally say thanks to every one who spends time reading this story! Please leave comments, I would love to see what your thoughts and hopes are and I do love feedback! This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story. I have no set upload schedule, but will be hoping to get chapters out once every week to two weeks. This is a work in progress at present and I hope you enjoy it!</p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Richard Leonard.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bendis and Ares watched as the years continued to creep by, the small girl growing from a child, to a teenager. At some point, she had become more resistant to the hate flowing from her grandfather that would influence her moods. She got to know more people and found that her hatred may have possibly been unfounded. The people that had come into her life came in as if they were riding a tidal wave of emotions to drown her with. </p><p>The Great Mother placed a hand on Ares’ shoulder and smiled sadly at him. “Come my son, it’s been 10 long years since you last told me you needed no rest. You will need it moving forward. Come, let us rest,” she spoke with a gentle smile gracing her lips.</p><p>“I wish I didn’t have to leave her here.. but not for long. We will return shortly, right Bendis?” he spoke softly as he looked up at her. She simply nodded, and then started walking away, in the direction of the undying meadow.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>For the first time in a long time, Amity felt peace within her soul. It was like taking one’s first breath after almost drowning. To say she felt immense relief was quite honestly, an understatement. Amity cuddled further under the covers of her bed after peeking at the time and deduced that she probably had another good 30 minutes before she had to get ready to head off for school. At least, she thought she did. Her bedroom door suddenly swung open and a heavy frame landed roughly on top of her as she let out a loud shriek.</p><p>“What the fuck!” she growled and shoved the large mass from her bed. </p><p>She heard a thud and a fit of giggles, and poking her head above the covers, her blue eyes peered down and glared at none other than Kyle, who seemed to get a kick out of her annoyance. It had been some years since they had met each other and thanks to him sticking to Amity like glue, she figured he wasn’t going to leave her behind no matter what he did. He stood a little taller than her at 5’11” now, and he’d really come into his own as a man without losing his personal charm. He now had a beard and a mustache that most young guys in their year were profoundly jealous of, but he was also older than most of them so it came as no surprise. </p><p>“You really expected that today of all days I wouldn’t come get you? Or at least make sure you don’t miss anything? Tch,” he huffed, blowing auburn strands from his eyes as he started to stand back up.</p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about~. What’s so special about today~?” she asked in a singsong voice while looking anywhere but at his face. Amity heard a sudden grumble as a hand was stuck under the covers and wrapped around her ankle–before she was yanked from her bed with a shriek.</p><p>“You’re an idiot, you know that right? Get the fuck up and get ready, it’s time to go,” he shoved Amity at her wardrobe and sat down on her bed. With his back against the wall, he picked up a magazine from the side table and began slowly flicking through it.</p><p>“You’re not gonna.. leave my room? Bit of privacy? Eh?” she questioned him with a bewildered look on her face.</p><p>“Amity, please. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. Get dressed,” he admonished her with a blank stare before returning his gaze to the magazine in his hands.</p><p>So, she made quick work of getting dressed. Today she’d decided a cute crop top, high waisted shorts and a pair of boots would do. Pulling her thick white hair into a messy bun, she gave herself a once over in the wardrobe mirror. Amity walked back into her bedroom and Kyle looked back up at her.</p><p>“Since you insisted on staying, how do I look? Honest opinion?” she asked while doing a little spin.</p><p>He shook his head before responding, “Hot enough. Now lets go.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of her room and through to the kitchen.</p><p>“Good morning, Kyle honey, happy birthday!” Amity’s parents greeted him warmly and he beamed at them.</p><p>“Good morning! And thank you! I came to get this one so she doesn’t miss another day again this week,” he chided.</p><p>Amity scoffed and tapped him on the back of the head. “You don’t even do anything in class anyways, you just check people out,” she grunted as she pushed him towards the front door, “Bye mom, bye dad!” They both waved at her parents who were shaking their heads as they walked out the door and headed down the street.</p><p>“Now now, Amity. I swear I only look respectfully,” he laughed, a wide grin across his freckled face, his hands up in defense as they made their way towards the school.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Amity and Kyle sat at the back of their class room as they had done ever since becoming fast friends as kids. There were many things Amity regretted in life, but giving in to him and becoming his friend would never be one of those regrets. She certainly would never forget the significance of today either, even though she played dumb with him. It was his 18th birthday, and she’d prepared something she thought he’d truly enjoy. She kept the present hidden out of his sight in her backpack until the right time. </p><p>Throughout her school years there were many people she hated; but even so, there were some people that she got along with a little, and even some she didn’t actually mind. There was definitely potential for friends in some of them, but it’s never something she really thought about too much. She had a best friend in Kyle and she had her books. She was happy with that, right? Somebody in front of Amity had cleared their throat, and she looked up from her book to consider them. It was one of the more social butterflies of the grade, Ezra Morgan. Squared glasses sat on the bridge of her nose, framing stormy grey eyes that almost felt like they were peering into her soul.</p><p>“Hey guys, so I know you don’t really get out a lot, but we’re planning to have a big party since it’s the final day of school—plus we only have a year left now. Consider it a celebration. Some drinks and music, maybe some games, what you do say?” She smiled at them both as she passed them a hand printed invite to this party.</p><p>“We’ll think about it,” the pair of them say together with small smiles.</p><p>“No worries. Well, let me know at lunch!” she said with a smile before walking back to her seat.</p><p>Later, after class had ended, Amity looked down at the invitation and then placed it in her locker. She closed it and turned to lean her back against it, looking to her right at Kyle’s form. </p><p>“Do you think we should go? It’s your birthday after all. I’ll do whatever you want to do,” she said with a shrug. He spent a moment in thought before a cheeky smile spread across his face.<br/>
“Reckon’ there will be many people there? I wouldn’t mind going for a look!” he said with a laugh as he waggled his eyebrows. </p><p>She giggled at his silly antics when she noticed a shorter man walking up to the lockers on her left. It was Ty Johnson. He himself was a very quiet person, and typically kept to himself. He carried himself with an air of sadness most times and it made her feel for him. Amity appreciated his physical features, but his small stature just made her feel like she needed to protect him. Amity nudged Kyle to gain his attention before she called out to him.</p><p>“Hey Ty, not sure if you knew or not but, there is going to be an end of school party tonight, are you coming? It’s Kyle’s birthday. Maybe you could hang out with us?” she questioned in a gentle voice. She could tell he was thinking seriously about his answer to the question. After a moment his eyes met with Amity’s and he gave her a stiff nod, holding up his own invitation. It seemed truly everyone was receiving an invitation, social status aside.</p><p>She smiled brightly at him before asking her next question, “Do you have a pen or paper? I’ll give you my number. We can meet up at the party!” she said, flashing another  brilliant smile at him.</p><p>Ty nodded quickly, and shrugged off his backpack. He rummaged through it for a moment before pulling out a pen and handing it over to her. She quickly wrote down her number and offered the pen to Kyle who mimicked Amity’s action.</p><p>“We’ll see you there, man! Text us!” Kyle spoke with a happy tone as he waved at the ever silent retreating form of Ty. </p><p>Amity made her way into the cafeteria with Kyle in tow, blue eyes scanning the room. She locked onto the girl who had given them the invite and made her way to their table. The people sitting there turned their attention to the pair as they came close. Amity regarded them all with a careful glance before her eyes landed on Ezra.</p><p>“So we’re definitely coming, we’re going to come along with Ty. I’m not sure what time but count us there,” she said, smiling briefly at Ezra who looked ecstatic herself.</p><p>“Fantastic! It’ll be so great having new people to meet and get to know. Don’t worry, you’re not going to be the only new faces there tonight,” she said in an effort to reassure the pair.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Amity and Kyle sat on the floor of her bedroom, with drinks he’d swiped from his parent’s fridge. While sipping away on whiskey and cola, she flipped through Kyle’s art book while he read a magazine. Her eyes darted from the art book up to his face and she considered him for a moment before she stood up and left the room, taking her drink with her. When she came back she had his gift neatly wrapped, cradled in her spare hand. She nudged his leg with her foot and held out the gift to him.</p><p>“I thought you might really like this. You’ve been getting really into your art pieces and you’re really good, so I wanted to help. If they’re not quite right, I kept the receipt so you can take it back–but I do hope you enjoy them. Happy birthday, Kyle,” she said with a large smile.</p><p>Kyle had a look of surprise on his face as he took the gift from Amity’s hand. “You didn’t need to get me anything you know, and thanks for saying happy birthday–it took you so long I thought maybe you would have forgotten,” he laughed as he tore the wrapping away. His look of surprise became a wide grin and he laughed as he admired the gift,<br/>
“Amity this is so thoughtful, thank you! I love them!” He opened the tin, and admired the new colored pencils. They’d certainly breathe some new life into his traditional pieces and she couldn’t wait to see them.</p><p>Amity and Kyle spent the next little while getting ready to head to the party. Kyle donned a blue button up, long brown chino pants and sneakers. It was casual, but he did casual damned good. Amity opted to pull her hair into a half up-half down hairstyle, choosing to wear a pastel pink A-line style dress with a low cut neckline that cut off mid thigh. She finished the look with ballet style shoes; she knew they would be out for a few hours tonight and she wanted to be comfortable where she could.</p><p>She walked back into her room and Kyle let out a low whistle.</p><p>“Whose heart are you aiming to break tonight?” he laughed brightly.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Stolen Youth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity just wanted to have fun and enjoy herself for a single night with her friends. But it, along with a piece of herself was taken from her and she struggles to cope.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TRIGGER WARNING:</p><p>There is an implied rape scene in this chapter. It doesn't go into graphic details, but you have been warned. </p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Rick Leonard. This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They had decided to walk to the party, since it was only a few blocks walking distance. As they approached the large two story house, the music could be heard pumping from the street. They smiled before flicking off a text to Ty, to let him know they had arrived. </p><p>Walking through the house was difficult as there was a mess of people dancing, drinking, playing video games or drinking games. Almost every person she had known from the school was in this one place–as well as unknown faces. Making it out to the back yard with Kyle in tow, she looked around and made eye contact with Ty before smiling brightly and lifting her arm in the air to wave wildly at him. He was standing with a group of young men around a fire. The wave caught his attention and he grinned sheepishly at the pair as he walked away from the small group of young men he was listening to. The group watched on curiously as the guy they’d been talking with just upped and walked away.</p><p>One in that group couldn’t help but stare in the direction that the quiet man had walked. It was almost as if he was looking at a literal goddess. His eyes trailed from the bottom of her to the top, his eyes greedily drinking in the sight. She had long pale legs, slightly flared hips, and he couldn’t help but groan as his eyes trailed past her chest and landed on her face with bright blue eyes, framed in the whitest hair he had ever seen. She was stunning, and he wanted the dress off of her.</p><p>“Eli, what on earth are you looking at?” questioned a man in front of him, sipping his beer. “Your eyes just sort of.. glazed over and it’s like you’re not even listening right now,” he admonished.</p><p>Eli looked at the man in front of him and then back to the pale haired girl, nodding in her direction. “I was looking at her,” he said tightly.</p><p>Without turning around, the man laughed. “It looked more like you were eye fucking her,” he quipped.</p><p>“Trust me Sebastian, turn the fuck around and you’ll get it,” Eli said, nudging his friend and nodding in her direction.</p><p>Sebastian followed his friend’s instructions and swore his mouth went dry as his amber eyes grew wide. She was beautiful, no doubt. But he wasn't human, and she looked younger than he was comfortable with. “Holy shit,” he muttered, looking down at the ground momentarily. He faced Eli again and pointed a tanned finger in his face. “Don’t,” he scowled, before getting up and walking away.</p><p>Eli’s eyes flicked to watch his friend walk past the girl and her little group of friends, going back inside to presumably get more drinks. He went back to watching the girl again, sipping the beer in his hand as he sat in front of the fire. She was talking animatedly with her friends, enjoying a drink of her own. He knew his friend gave him a warning, but he had to have her. She was just too good to pass up.</p><p>At that moment, he watched her excuse herself from her friend group and walk inside. Getting up from the fire, he walked in her direction. Not paying attention to the watchful eyes of a small man that landed on him as he walked past. He entered the house and followed her, watching her carefully as she asked a woman she appeared to know where she could find a bathroom. Eli watches as she checks the rooms downstairs, but finding none are available she trudges up the stairs, and he begins to follow.</p><p>Eli watched the sway of her hips as she walked down the corridor and entered a room before closing the door. He took the final steps forward and tested the door knob, finding it was indeed unlocked and opened the door, stepping inside and closing it behind himself. He clicked in the lock on the door and waited for her to leave the bathroom.</p><p>Amity was actually having a better time than she thought she would, especially chatting with her friends. She had come to figure out that Ty was just naturally very quiet and not much of a talker outside of sign language. She smiled at her ridiculous enthusiasm when asking him if he would please teach her. Well, it was more like begging than asking. But he entertained her request and accepted. So that was something she was surely looking forward to; especially in the coming year. She found she also got along quite nicely with Ezra, she seemed like a pretty nice girl. She always thought that perhaps all she would ever need would be Kyle, but maybe they can expand their horizons this way?</p><p>She stood up from the toilet, and flushed. Quickly washing her hands, she turned and opened the bathroom door. But the room wasn’t dark like it was when she came in here. The light was on, and sitting on the bed was a large and intimidating man who was staring holes into Amity’s skull. This wasn’t right. Every cell in her body screamed at her to run, but she felt frozen as her throat tightened and her muscles locked up.</p><p>It felt like time simultaneously sped up and moved in slow motion. The moment he stood up and started walking towards her, her adrenaline kicked into overdrive and she dived for the door, but not before his arms wrapped around her waist, spinning her in the process and throwing her on the bed. Her head bounced off of the wooden headboard and in her pain and desperation she was too slow to get away from him. Her mouth opened in an effort to scream, and in her terror no sound could escape. When she heard the zipper, and felt his hands on her body, everything went dark.</p><p>Sebastian returned from the garage with two new beers in hand and as he started walking back toward the fire he noticed Eli was gone. He quirked an eyebrow and looked around for him before a hand grabbed at his sweatshirt. He looked down to see concern on the face of the small man who introduced himself as Ty. They motioned hurriedly with their hands for him to come closer.</p><p>“I think Eli followed Amity,” he whispered</p><p>“Don’t worry, I’ll go tell him to leave her alone. I already have once,” he replied tensely.</p><p>God fucking damn it, Eli, he thought. He had already warned him to stay away. She looked like a good girl, she shouldn’t get mixed up with people like Eli, and certainly not with Sebastian’s kind. He stepped inside, and scanned the room. He couldn’t see either of them everywhere, when he spotted Ezra doing arguably the worst example of dancing he had ever seen. He walked over to her and gently pulled her aside.</p><p>“Have you seen Eli? Or Amity?” he asked in a hushed tone. </p><p>“I think they needed the bathroom? Amity went looking for one earlier,” she said quickly. </p><p>Sebastian tensed and proceeded with checking all the downstairs rooms, which left upstairs only. He took the stairs two at a time and started ripping open doors, blushing fiercely when he opened a door that interrupted a couple close to an intimate moment. The last door was down the hall. Sebastian rattled the door handle but it was locked. That’s when he heard the last thing he wanted to be hearing.</p><p>“Busy, fuck off,” the voice called out. It was Eli’s voice.</p><p>Rage boiled under the surface of his skin as he tensed. He specifically told Eli not to do anything. She was too young, and for god's sake she’d been drinking. He didn’t waste any more time, and went straight to kicking at the center of the door. Which escalated the yelling to go away from within. The commotion gained the attention of the people down stairs, and Ezra came rushing up the stairs at the moment that Sebastian’s foot broke through the wood. Pushing his arm through the hole he unlocked the door from the outside, and what he saw once inside was horrifying. The two looked completely disheveled. Ezra screamed out for Amity and it was that moment that Sebastian snapped. </p><p>His eyes flicked back and forth between Amity who was currently bruised, bloody and unclothed on the floor, and the man he thought he could call a friend standing in front of him, clothes ripped and gouges in his face and arms, chest heaving from exhaustion. Sebastian’s jaw tightened as he looked at the man, and within a second he was on him. Sebastian headbutt Eli hard enough to knock him off balance onto the ground, and then pinned the upper half of his body under his knees on the ground. He repeatedly drove his fist into Eli’s face, punch after punch with a sickening crunch until the man was unconscious.  Kyle and Ty followed Ezra into the room, and tried to pull Sebastian off of Eli.</p><p>“Stop, stop, you’re going to kill him! He’s not worth it!” He didn’t know who was talking at this point, but he got off the floor and sent a final hard kick into the piece of shit’s ribs. He hoped he had broken something. He couldn’t believe Eli would do something like this. He knew he’d been giving the girl a weird look for some time but he didn’t think he would be capable of behaving like this. He turned from the mess that used to be a man and to the girl. Her eyes stared unblinkingly ahead and she looked almost vacant. </p><p>“We need to get her out of here, unseen,” he demanded as his eyes flicked between all the friends now in the room.</p><p>Everything felt like it was happening through eye’s that were not her own. Amity heard someone telling everyone the party was over and to go the fuck home or the cops were being called. She heard people talking about what to do with her and where to take her. And then she felt it, warmth wrapping around her body and a gentle rocking motion in arms wildly unfamiliar–but she had no fear to give now. Amity heard crying around her. That was good. They got to process it. But would she? She felt herself being lifted from the ground as she lost her consciousness.</p><p>Her vision was blurred from unshed tears and as her home came into view she felt them slip from her eyes. Everything seemed to happen so quickly and slowly. She saw Kyle knock on the door, she saw Ezra and Ty in front of her, who held her? She saw Kyle’s arms flailing about as he sobbed and explained, and when her friends moved out of the way, she could hear the screams of her mother and the dry retching of her father.</p><p>Who ever had held onto her was giving instructions to the distraught friends and family around them. She remembered specifically the words: ‘Put her clothes in a garbage bag, the sheets at your house too Ezra. Don’t wash her. She needs a kit done.’ and it was then that the sobs came. Her whole body shook violently as she cried. What had she done to deserve this? Had she not always been good? She could be better, just take it back!</p><p>The large form holding her rocked her while stroking her hair gently and whispered that everything was going to be okay while her mother came with a new blanket to wrap her in. She wanted so badly to believe that reality. So she just kept holding on. </p><p>It was like she moved through the following days and then weeks on auto-pilot. All of her evidence was provided to the station, her DNA was taken, her friends provided their witness statements and so did the stranger. But that wasn’t going to be enough to wipe away the pain, or how dirty she felt. She had a particularly bad dream on one particular night, that her parents told her ended with her sitting in the bathtub scrubbing herself until she bled. Ezra had spent more and more time at the Laine household, because when Amity wasn’t alone she started to feel normal again–like the monsters of her dreams couldn’t get to her anymore.</p><p>After a few weeks of non-attendance through the new year, Amity heard a ring at the doorbell. She was sitting on the floor, flicking through a magazine. With a blank face, she went from looking in the direction of the door back down to her magazine. That was when she heard the voice of her parents surprise.</p><p>“Oh, why hello, you guys. Can we help you with something?” they had asked. They were trying their best to toe the line between consideration and concern and couldn’t help but feel they were failing.</p><p>“Well, actually, we’d love to spend some time with Amity, if that’s okay, Mr and Mrs Laine?” the voice asked. It seemed familiar and yet she couldn’t quite place it. </p><p>“Of course.. Just.. I don’t know if she’s coming back, kids. I hate to tell you that,” her father spoke with deep sadness in his voice. </p><p>She heard the footsteps coming down the hall, and then watched multiple figures pile into her room from the corner of her eye. They each made themselves comfortable in one spot or another. Kyle laid on his back on her bed, Ty took up a space in her reading chair by the bedroom window and Ezra and a strange man sat either side of her, backs pressed to the bed. Amity sat unmoving but watched him from the corner of her eye.</p><p>“Who the fuck are you?” she demanded.</p><p>“I’m Sebastian. I found you, that night at Ezra’s. I’m sorry I couldn’t get there sooner,” he spoke, barely above a whisper.</p><p>“It’s ok to be angry, Amity, just let us be here for you, like we know you would have been if it were one of us,” Kyle said, still staring upward at the ceiling but moving a hand to place it so that he was touching her. Just in case she needed more proof that they were real in that moment.</p><p>“Some of us know more than others what it's like to be abused, or have something stripped from us. We get it, truly,” that came from across the room. She raised her now dull eyes to Ty and smirked.</p><p>“That might just be the most you’ve said to me since we met.” she mused. He only nodded in return.</p><p>“If you need a listening ear Amity.. I’ve been through this. Multiple times. Except in my circumstance, it was people I knew that did it to me. I swear to you, it’ll be hard but it’s going to be ok,” Ezra stated with confidence.</p><p>And suddenly, all of the hurt, and the grief and the pain unraveled all at once. At first her body began to shake, and then came the tears, and then hate and angry filled wails. As her friends wrapped themselves around her in a collective hug, she cried harder, sobs wracking her body and feeling everything she had repressed all at once.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Self Defence</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity needs to start coming to terms with the aftermath of the rape and puts more trust in her friends to help her moving forward, to stop this from ever happening again.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>More mild PTSD flash blacks in this chapter. </p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Rick Leonard. This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Over the next few days, Amity was reintroduced to a new normal. She returned to school and thankfully in her final year, her friends shared the same classes with her. The school also had plenty of new faces, including some in her grade. She had gone to the back of the classroom in one of her final classes for the day with Kyle, and taken her regular seat to the right of him, when she noticed a presence looming above her. Raising her head, she took in the face of the person who had beat her attacker senseless, smiling brightly down at her. She couldn’t say she wasn’t glad to see him, but she just couldn’t meet his smile. If anything it did make her feel a touch safer knowing he was on the grounds. He really could handle himself.</p><p>“Hey Amity! What’re you doing Kyle?” He asked, as he sidled into a seat next to him leaning towards Kyle’s desk, looking down at the drawing pad.</p><p>“Not much really, which is the same as always. Just sketching,” he smiled. “What’d you decide to do for this term assessment?” he asked the taller man. </p><p>They went back and forth in friendly conversation like that for the rest of the class until it was time for their sports lessons. Kyle wasn’t in this class, but Sebastian was, and in his singlet and loose shorts, Amity got the chance to actually get a good look at the person who, until now, she had taken little notice of. He was a tall and well built man and looked to be around 6”2, give or take a little. He had a tanned complexion, and as she watched him run around the track with his shaggy brown hair bobbing in a messy bun that framed his amber eyes, she couldn’t deny he was at minimum an attractive person on the surface. But who was he underneath that? Amity sighed as she continued to ponder the question she had asked herself. For as long as she could remember, it was her and Kyle against the world. Now there were so many different characters coming out of the woodwork, offering introductions and friendship to her. Her anger told her ‘no, you don’t need them. They’re only going to hurt you’. But Kyle had always been so kind and caring, and no matter what he was supportive and understanding. Maybe she should ask his opinion. Should she continue getting to know these people and forming connections? His opinion was important to her.</p><p>Amity popped her earphones into her ears and proceeded to stretch out all of her muscles and shake out her arms before she hit the track herself. While she ran, a blank stare overcame her features, the rhythm of a beat playing off in her ears as she saw flashes of that night, when she was stolen from herself. She could vividly remember that creature’s ragged breathing in her ear, the thud of her feet hitting the track reminded her of the thud of the bed against the wall, the splitting pain as she was torn from the inside out, and hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Until she discovered, the tears were not a memory. She touched a hand to her damp cheek and realized she was crying right now. Keep running, just keep running and maybe you’ll forget, she thought.</p><p>She pushed her body harder, and harder, and harder. Amity never wanted to feel weak like that ever again. The next time some asshole decided she was a convenient vessel for their personal enjoyment, she would make sure they could never breed and create more monsters like themselves. She vowed she would tear them apart.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>That evening when Amity arrived at home she was greeted by her parents talking at the dinner table. A sad smile donned her fathers face while her mother looked down at the table. Her mother pulled a chair out and patted the seat.</p><p> </p><p>“Honey come sit, we’d like to talk to you,” she said softly. She felt fear coursing through her body, what could they possibly have to talk about?</p><p>“Amity we really think it would be a good idea for you to look into self defense classes. We know that what happened to you wasn’t your fault and we need you to believe that, but it would really make us feel better if.. if.. well, should something ever happen to you, we just want to know you’re able to take care of yourself,” her father choked out. This was as hard for them to talk about as it was for her, clearly. </p><p>“We’ll pay for lessons if we need to, or if there are classes at school, you could take those too. Anything we can do to help you, we will,” her mother added. They were serious about this. </p><p>“Thanks mom, thanks dad. I’ll look into it I promise. I don’t want to feel weak. Not ever again,” she muttered while looking down at the table. She pushed out of her seat and walked out of the kitchen.</p><p>She walked straight into her bathroom, locking the door behind her and stepping into the tub. She stripped and leaned forward, turning the tap for the hot water. The temperature of the water made her skin flush red and she stared forward as a blank stare came over her face. She began scrubbing with the loofa that was hanging from the tap almost methodically, and found she didn’t quite feel clean enough. So instead of the loofa, she used her nails. Her mind flashed at the familiar feeling of skin under her nails. Of his bloodied flesh as she tried to rip and tear herself free of him. Her nails raking deep gouges on the arms that held her down and the unwelcome face much too close to her own. As images continued to flash before her eyes, her scrubbing became more frenzied as she quietly sobbed.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>The next day came around as the day the students were expected to select a physical activity as part of the mandatory physical education block. It technically wasn’t the same as her sports class. This was supposed to be a fun activity the students could do once a week. She looked around to see if she could spot Kyle anywhere. She figured he would likely just go with whatever she chose. This part of school wasn’t what he considered to be fun, so even when they had these ‘fun’ activities, he still hung out with a notepad and some pencils. Not being able to see him, she sat off to the side, away from the large group of teenagers. This would make it easier for him to spot her.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Sebastian had decided he would drive himself to school that morning. He parked his relatively new black truck by the student parks at the front gate and walked in. There was a mass gathering of students in the gymnasium picking their elective sports for the rest of the year. His eyes snapped to her as if she was a beacon, he spotted Amity straight away sitting by herself. He knew she was still standoffish with him and he honestly couldn’t blame her. After what she had been through it was to be expected. He had never seen another person be raped before and he could go his whole life without seeing it once let alone ever again. He wanted to make sure his Amity would be protected. Wait. His Amity? What was he even thinking?</p><p>He walked to her with long strides and sat by her side, looking at her from the corner of his eye. She looked so.. tired. Her hair was untamed in a loose bun and she had purple bags under her eyes. She definitely wasn’t sleeping. When he looked down his eyes landed on her arms and widened in an instant. He turned toward her and gently took her arm in his hands, turning it over seeing the raw cuts and scratches littering her skin. When he looked to the opposite arm it was much the same. His head rose sharply and his eyes met hers as he searched her face.</p><p>“Amity what happened? How did you get these?” he asked in a hushed tone. Amity grimaced and yanked her arm from his soft grip.</p><p>“I.. I couldn’t get clean okay,” she looked to the floor unable to meet his eyes. </p><p>His heart ached for her in that moment. No one should have to feel this way. Not a human like her, nor a beast like him. He wasn’t supposed to care about man, but he couldn’t help but to care about her. It was too much suffering for one person, especially when she wasn’t strong enough to look after herself. He wouldn’t be staying in this town past graduation, but maybe he could help her before he left. He bumped her shoulder with his and met her indignant look with a small smile.</p><p>“I hope I’m not overstepping by asking.. but have you thought about what sport you’re going to do?” he asked her.</p><p>She was quiet for a moment. “I had a talk with my parents last night, and they want me to take self defense. So if the school offers it, self defense,” she said firmly, as if to solidify herself in her own resolve. </p><p>“Funny you should say that, they’ve never done self defense here but I can actually help you. I’m typically more on the offense than defense, but I’m sure I could teach you some things that would help. I was going to do gym—we can use their mats to practice on if you’d like to follow me to gym?” He really hoped she would say yes to him. If there was one thing he could give her it was a lesson in how to fend for herself. </p><p>“You know, that would actually be very helpful. I think I’ll go sign up for Gym. Thank you, Sebastian,” she gave him a small smile before rising to her feet and walking across the gym where he saw her begin penning down her name.</p><p>At that moment, Kyle had walked into the gym and immediately gone to her side, throwing an arm around her shoulders as he talked about something animatedly using his hands. After that, Ezra and Ty joined them and appeared to ask Amity something when she gave a brief explanation and pointed to Sebastian. He took that as his cue to get up and went to join their conversation.</p><p>“Hey guys, what are you guys choosing for your activity?” he questioned them.</p><p>“I’m going to join gym with you and Amity. These guys are coming too but I think that’s more to slack off without getting into too much trouble,” Ezra joked.</p><p>Sebastian sauntered up to the table and jotted his name down on the gym sign up form, before returning to the group of friends and chatting idly about plans for the rest of the week; who had what assignment and whether they should do something over the weekend, or not. His eyes flicked from one person to another until they landed on Amity’s face. He hoped if nothing else, this would help her to take her life back into her own hands.</p><p>A whistle sounded from the podium, getting the attention of the students in the gymnasium, and his attention snapped to the teachers at the podium addressing the crowd. They sorted students into their relative groupings and did final checks of the registrations before shooing the students off to class with an order to return for sports in the afternoon.</p><p>The day seemed to pass by all too quickly and before he knew it, he was stood back in the gym among the group of friends engaging in idle chatter. But to him, there wasn’t any more time to waste. Walking to Amity’s side, he bumped her shoulder with his and jerked his head in the direction of the punching bags. Quirking his eyebrow, he asked his question silently and she obliged him.</p><p>“Sebastian wanted to teach me a couple things so I’ll catch you guys later,” she stated, waving off her friends as she followed him. </p><p>Sebastian took the gloves that were hanging from the side of the stand the bag was suspended from, and turned to hand the gloves off to Amity. Her fingertips brushed his lightly as she took the gloves from his hands.</p><p>“You need to put these on your hands, realistically, if you get into a position where you need to fight you won’t have these to protect yourself–but since it’s just a bag there is no reason not to prevent unnecessary damage,” he said. She nodded and slipped her small hands into the gloves and waited.</p><p>“The next thing you need to do, is look straight forward, without staring. Where you look will be your target. You need to be able to see how your opponent moves to be able to attack and defend,” he advised. </p><p>Amity watched him and listened carefully to his instructions. All of this information was certainly helpful and she felt he was trying his best to be a good teacher. But she just didn’t feel like she was going to be a very good student. She watched as he straightened himself, facing away from her and widening his stance.</p><p>“Balance is important so that you’re not so easily knocked off your feet. Stand like this,” he commanded. She shuffled her feet apart and tried to mimic his stance. He moved from beside her to behind her in two steps.</p><p>“I’m going to touch you now, is that ok?” he asked her gently. With a sharp nod of her head, she felt his feet tapping at hers to get her to pick them up and move them. She widened the placing of her feet a little further with his guidance, and felt his rough hands come to rest on her forearms before guiding them up into a defensive position. His warm breath fanning over the back of her neck tickled her and she shuddered. He stepped away from her quickly and observed her stance.</p><p>“That’s good enough. Now, what you are going to want to do when you want to land a hit, is never drop your hands; because unlike the bag, if someone wants to hurt you, they will fight back. Breathe between your punches and do not take your feet from the ground. The power of your punch will travel from your feet, through your core and into your punch,” he motioned back to the bag. “Hit it,” He instructed.</p><p>And so she did. Right now, she wasn’t very good at it, and occasionally found him correcting her stance or critiquing something she did or didn’t do until he decided it was time to take a break from the bag. After which, she decided to hit the treadmill. Amity had deduced that if she was going to take being able to defend herself seriously, she needed to be stronger than she was. And she was willing to put in the hard work to get there.</p><p>As her feet pounded on the treadmill, and music pumped in the open space of the gymnasium she found herself looking at Sebastian again. He was at the weight bench, in what looked to be a deep, but playful, discussion with a guy that looked like he had worn his pyjamas to school. How could he be that covered in watermelon print? Her eyes narrowed before refocusing on the task ahead of her, and she ran until her chest heaved and her legs wobbled.</p><p>Amity slowly made her way over to the entrance of the Gym where Kyle and Ty were both sitting, before she collapsed onto the floor by their feet in a heap. Ty smirked at her groaning form and Kyle merely quirked a brow. She looked to her friends as she continued to catch her breath.</p><p>“I knew it would be hard but… I didn’t think it would be this hard. I’m so unbelievably tired,” she complained. Kyle laughed at her complaint and poked at her with one of his pencils.</p><p>“That is why I, unlike you, am being a smart person and drawing instead of...” he made a wild gesture in her direction, “... What ever the fuck that was that you just did. I’d rather be comfortable thanks,” he mused, looking back to his sketch. Amity snickered before turning her attention to Ty, nudging his foot.</p><p>“Do you think maybe I can start cashing in on those sign language lessons yet? It’d be nice to get started on that sometime soon,” she asked. Ty considered her for a moment before quickly nodding.</p><p>“This afternoon?” he asked her plainly. </p><p>“Sure, we’ll walk together.” For the first time in a few weeks, a proper smile lit her features. </p><p>After opting to walk to Amity’s home, that was how their afternoon was spent. Ty sat by the window in the reading chair and began his lesson. It was slow, and she struggled. But it’s not like she was a child anymore. New languages to more adult minds are typically not easy to learn, and although sign language was not spoken it was still as hard as it would be if it were spoken in a different tongue.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. All Cut Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sebastian doesn't properly read Amity's warning signs, and learns a painful lesson as a result.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Trigger warning for PTSD flashbacks in this chapter. </p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Rick Leonard. This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p><p>Just one more chapter to post before we are all caught up to the current work I have written! Just a reminder I don't have a posting schedule but I will attempt to post at minimum one chapter once a week or once a fortnight. I hope you follow along with me on this journey!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Weeks had passed by in what felt like only a matter of moments. Amity was slowly becoming stronger; her body was beginning to lose its softness as she continued to train and follow Sebastian’s instructions. She could now also hold minimal conversation with Ty, she had progressed faster than she had expected in that respect. Although she believed her capacity was still limited, Ty seemed to understand her perfectly fine.</p><p>Before she knew it, another holiday was upon them and school would be out for a couple of days while the staff prepared for a new term. It was another day for their gym activity and there was almost no one present, aside from their little group of friends. Sebastian had promised her that today he would spar with her and teach her how to get out of certain holds. Amity stepped onto the blue mat dressed in her gym shorts and a singlet, her hair pulled into a loose bun. Sebastian stepped up onto the mat soon after and faced her.</p><p>Their friends sat at various spots around the room, Kyle sat by the door sketching away as he usually did, Ty sat beside him, his watchful eyes roaming, while Ezra was on the leg press with the strange pyjama man spotting for her. Amity stretched herself out before nodding to Sebastian that she was ready to proceed.</p><p>“The first thing I will show you is how to escape a headlock. Now, I’m going to wrap my arm around your neck, and you’re going to twist into me, and aim for the groin. Don’t actually hit me, please,” he chuckled. Moving to Amity’s side, as promised his arm came up around her head while he pulled her towards him and gripped his free hand. “Now, if I were to squeeze enough, I would be able to knock you unconscious just like this, so you need to break the hold quickly.” </p><p>As he spoke, his grip began to slowly tighten, and she could feel herself begin to panic. She wriggled and wreathed under his arm before making a motion to hit at his groin. She yanked her head from his hold and gasped.</p><p>“Very good Amity. Make note of that hold because we will keep practicing that one,” he noted. “The next hold is also important for you to know how to get out of. I’m going to put my hands around your waist, and you’re going to square your feet and use that power to drive your elbow backwards into your opponent’s jaw. Just like throwing a punch.” He smiled.</p><p>He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. It was almost like a perfect fit. And yet, she felt so threatened. As he began to squeeze, her heart rate quickened and she began to struggle, as images of that night flashed into her mind. At first, she whimpered softly at him to let her go. And when he encouraged her to break the hold how he instructed, she could feel herself vibrating as she growled. The image of being held like this, and the force her attacker used to pick her up and bounce her head off the bed head made her growl loudly as she began to thrash against him. Her chest heaved as the panic continued to build and she threw her head back harshly, connecting with his nose. He grunted as he let her go. When he loosened his grip, she turned to him with a scream as she swung her arm. Her hand connected with his face in a swift movement leaving deep, claw-like gashes in his face as he fell back onto the mat. The gym went silent. Amity’s eyes grew wide with fear as her hand flew to cover her mouth. Sebastian looked up at her through his one open eye, clutching his face as crimson liquid poured over his tanned skin.</p><p>“I’m sorry, Amity, I wasn’t thinking–“ he started as she turned and ran from the Gym.</p><p>“I’ll go talk to her. Don’t worry Sebastian. Do you guys think you could help him out?” Ezra questioned the men in the room while motioning to the injured man, each one of them nodding.</p><p>Ezra followed the sound of Amity’s rushed footsteps and loud sobs. She knew how the poor thing felt from personal experience and how painful and scary it was being close to someone who could hurt you if they wanted too. But from this fear she learned to cope and hoped she would be able to impart on Amity some wisdom and advice that would lead her step by step into a fear free future.</p><p>Amity had made it to a quiet hallway close to the gym and squatted down as she felt the panic and fear course through her. Her throat tightened as she choked. Turning her head sharply to the opening of the corridor, she watched in panic as steps grew louder until a form came into view. It was Ezra. Amity’s face contorted as she tried to say something, anything and the words could not escape her lips. Ezra slowly walked towards her, and silently put a hand on her head while crouching down next to her.</p><p>“I need you to breathe Amity,” she stated as she began to guide her hand further down and level to her knees before moving her hand to her back, “Take a deep breath in, hold it for 3 seconds, and exhale slowly.” Her voice was soft as she gave instructions and gently rubbed Amity’s back.</p><p>She felt like she was failing at following the simple instructions Ezra had given to her while she took deep and shaking breaths—until she started giving soft praise that she didn’t know she needed. Slowly she lifted her head away from her knees as she continued to try and keep her breathing level. Wiping away the fresh tears painting her cheeks, she looked to Ezra and smiled softly as she continued to calm.</p><p>“Thank you, Ezra. I don’t know what came over me,” she laughed bitterly.</p><p>Ezra’s eye’s moved over Amity for a small moment before deciding what she needed to do. “Amity... I do. I know. And I understand. It’s ok to not be ok, Amity. Because no part of what happened to you will ever be ok. It’s flashbacks, right?” Ezra asked her gently.</p><p>Amity nodded slowly. “It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, it could be the most mundane thing but a sound, an action, even a smell, and it’s like I’m sent straight back to hell. I don’t want to remember; I want it to stop,” she whimpered. </p><p>Ezra moved to sit alongside her and pulled Amity into a warm hug. “So, do you want to tell me what happened back there with Sebastian?” she asked gently.</p><p>A deep shaky sigh escaped from the other female’s lips before she nodded tightly. “Sebastian said he was going to teach me how to defend myself. So for the last few weeks he has been training me, and when he was going over the first hold with me today–that’s when I first felt like this. And then the second hold...” she quickly looked down at her hands, observing skin and blood under her nails. “Ezra what did I do to Sebastian?” she gasped, looking at the grey eyed girl only for her to shrug in response.</p><p>“We don’t exactly know, he was more worried about you if I’m truthful. He certainly cares, otherwise he wouldn’t have offered to teach you, and wouldn’t ask after you when he just got hurt. You don’t need to do anything with that information, but just think about it. We can be here for you if you let us. We can be your friend if you let us,” Ezra muttered softly.</p><p>Amity nodded, before rising away from her seated position in Ezra’s arms. “I need to go apologise,” she stated as she started moving away from a softly smiling Ezra.</p><p>As Amity walked toward the gym, Kyle came into view. She couldn’t determine if he was waiting for her or making sure no one came in. She waved at him meekly, but he wasn’t smiling back at her. His face was full of concern.</p><p>“Amity are you ok? That was scary. Sebastian is hurt pretty bad,” he said softly.</p><p>She nodded quickly and gripped the bottom of her shirt in small hands. “I’m ok, but I need to apologise—especially if I hurt him,” she muttered.</p><p>Kyle nodded and quickly moved to the side so she could walk through. As she walked into the gym and started heading in Sebastian’s direction, Ty noticed her and held up his hand to stop her and began to sign.</p><p>“Are you in control right now?” He asked quickly and she nodded sadly.</p><p>Ty stepped to the side and watched Amity with an air of apprehension as she walked to Sebastian’s still recovering form. The pyjama man was kneeling in front of Sebastian and dabbing at his face with dampened paper towels. Sebastian cringed away from him and hissed, trying to bat away the napkin.</p><p>“Come on stop it, you’ve gotta clean that or you’ll get an infection!” he stated, hitting back the taller man’s hands. From behind him, Amity could see Sebastian’s eyes rise from the feet of her approaching form and widen as he locked onto her face. The pyjama man turned to look at the person approaching and turned toward her. Upon seeing her, he shot straight to his feet.</p><p>“You need to go, you’ve done enough!” he spat. Amity visibly flinched at the raised voice and took a step back. Sebastian reached over and grabbed a fistful of pyjama man’s shirt. </p><p>Kyle stiffened from across the room and turned slowly at the harsh words with wide, fury filled eyes.</p><p>“Zain stop–” Sebastian started, trying to interrupt his friend from his tirade. The man she now knew as Zain stared her down.</p><p>“Look at what you did! Get out!” he yelled, pointing at the door. Her shoulders rose quickly as she dropped her head in shame.</p><p>“I-I-I’m-… sorry!” she stammered as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. Her desperate blue eyes bore into Sebastian’s face, observing the damage she had caused before turning on her heel and sprinting away.</p><p>“Way to go, you fucking asshole!” Kyle screamed, pointing an accusing finger at him, “That was between Amity and Sebastian, no one else. You have no idea what she’s been through.” He spat, before quickly turning on his heel and storming out after her.</p><p>Sebastian felt positively ashamed. And Zain had not helped the situation any by doing what he did. He turned his one good eye sadly toward Ty, who if looks could kill, Zain would be a dead man by now. For a small man, the way he sauntered over to the two positively terrified him. He then started signing at rapid fire pace as he practically growled, not just at Zain but at them both. Sebastian had asked Amity about signing in the past and of course his juvenile mind wondered about how to sign expletives, but damn they were not fun to be on the receiving end of. He watched with wide eyes as the small man shamed him.</p><p>“Fuck you both,” Ty had signed quickly, with a grunt. He turned and left, following the small group of friends.</p><p>“Ok so… what the fuck was that about?” Zain questioned him while jerking his thumb towards Ty’s retreating form.</p><p>Sebastian sighed, running a frustrated hand through his thick hair before getting to his feet. “We just got the dressing down of our lives from a selectively mute man, that’s what. I don’t think I’ll ever live that down,” he sighed deeply, looking to his friend. “Kyle was right though; you don’t know what Amity has gone through. And unless she ever tells you, I don’t think you ever will,” he muttered.</p><p>“What? Why can’t you tell me?” Zane pressed with a tone of disbelief.</p><p>“Because it’s not my place. All I’ll tell you is that she did what I’ve been trying to teach her to do. Protect herself,” he quipped at his friend.</p><p>Zain’s eyebrows simply shot to the top of his forehead as he considered his friends' words. “She must mean something to you for you to put yourself out like that man. Shit, did I just fuck that up?” he asked sincerely.</p><p>Sebastian shook his head slowly. “No, it’s not like that. I’m just teaching her to throw a punch that’s all,” he said slowly.</p><p>Zain looked over his friend with a watchful and considerate eye. He seemed pretty cut up, literally. “You look pretty upset for a guy who claims she means nothing to you,” he stated simply.</p><p> </p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Several days had passed since the incident and the school break had come and gone quickly; all the while Sebastian hadn’t heard a word from Amity. She hadn’t shown back up to school after the small break and he was concerned. Sebastian noted that Ty, Ezra and Kyle had been collecting her schoolwork for her at the end of each lesson, so he assumed that meant she was probably not coming back for a while. He sighed deeply and tried to return his focus back to the work on the page in this term's hospitality class.</p><p>He watched Amity’s friends throw around food ideas for their next assessment. He was surprised that all three were in the one room together, but he looked forward to seeing their dynamic. For as much as they were not speaking to him right now, they were good people. He believed that in his heart of hearts. At the least, if he had lost the beginnings of friendship with these humans it was likely for the best. He continually reminded himself that he could not stay, that he needed to leave after graduation. At least for the time, he had Zain. Despite them both getting cussed out over a girl, it didn’t affect their friendship. For that he was glad. He rested his chin on his left hand as he fiddled with his pen in his right. He spun it around his fingers while he idly looked at the group of friends across the room from him.</p><p>“You know, glaring harder isn’t going to make them go away,” Zain tutted at him with a smirk on his face.</p><p>“Glaring? I’m not glaring—what are you talking about?” Sebastian’s eyes snapped to Zain’s face as he gave him an indignant look.</p><p>“That! That look right there! You look like you’re trying to stare a hole into the ground under them. Dude, are you ok? You’ve been acting fucking weird for days. It’s not like you,” he questioned the taller man.</p><p>“Oh, I was just thinking that they had probably seen Amity. I hope she’s ok,” he muttered into his hand.</p><p>Zain barked out a laugh. “So much for not caring, Sebastian,” he chuckled.</p><p>Sebastian felt his face heat up as he scowled at his friend and looked away from him, back down to his papers. He stared down at the paper and read mindlessly, trying to get his mind off the white-haired girl. But try as he might, graphical instructions on how to julienne a carrot, followed by correct practice of Mise En Place just weren’t interesting enough to distract him from the girl who was occupying his thoughts. He idly followed the lesson–copying the teacher’s writing from the board sparingly–until the belly rung to signal the end of the day. That’s when he noticed some shadows creeping over his desk. Raising his head he looked to the trio before him and raised a brow, questioning their presence.</p><p>Kyle spoke first. “You need to go see Amity. It’s been days and she hasn’t left her house. I keep trying to tell her not to worry about you or him—” he spat in reference to Zain “—but try as I might, she keeps beating herself up. Please just make it stop. I hate seeing her like this,” Kyle said loudly. </p><p>The short, black-haired man next to him signed a singular word, “Pussy.” He leered.</p><p>Sebastian cringed in response. He supposed he deserved that. He had intentionally not sought Amity out after all. He was ashamed to face her.</p><p>“It’s clear you need to talk to her as much as she needs to talk to you, Sebastian. Make it right. And here, take these. I know she will appreciate it,” Ezra mumbled as she placed down a notebook with the lesson’s pages from the day; including Ezra’s own note taking. Damn the girl knew her cooking.</p><p>“I don’t know what I can achieve at this point, but I promise I will try to talk to her. But he can come, he owes Amity an apology too,” he said softly, jerking a thumb in the direction of the Zain.</p><p>The three friends openly bristled at the thought of Zain being near Amity, but didn’t immediately oppose it. They simply nodded instead. All Kyle cared about at the end of the day was that she got an apology. He knew she didn’t mean for it to go that way, and they need to understand it too.</p><p> </p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Amity sat comfortably in her reading chair, flicking through a cookbook Ezra had left with her on her last visit. She personally didn’t believe she needed the book, but Ezra was insistent, and kept complaining about what would happen if one day she was on her own and could only cook cup noodles. Amity had felt slightly attacked at that and had taken the book begrudgingly. She had yet to find anything actually appetising. Muffled knocks sounded at the front door below her, jerking her from her reverie, before she heard the hushed voices of her parents and her friend’s downstairs. They must have come with today’s work. There was a soft knock at her door.</p><p>“Come in!” she called out gently.</p><p>But when the door opened, all she could feel was horror as she looked upon Sebastian’s scratched up face and the man beside him. She shrunk into her chair with a whimper as she looked away from them. She couldn’t stand the idea of being admonished in her one safe space.</p><p>“Look Amity. I’m really sorry for talking to you in the way that I did. Sebastian didn’t tell me what happened, except for the fact that you had your reasons. He told me I had the wrong idea–and your friends were sure to drive home that message. I shouldn’t have spoken on things I don’t know about, but I hope that you can forgive that I was just trying my best in protecting my friend. Genuinely, I am actually very sorry,” he stated openly.</p><p>Amity reddened at his sudden words. “No please don’t apologise! I hurt him, you, as well as everyone else, saw that. I deserved it,” she cried. </p><p>Seeing her pain made Sebastian’s heart feel like it was breaking. Why did that hurt so much?</p><p>“No, Amity, listen. I shouldn’t have spoken to you that way. I should have seen when you came back, that you came back to help. I couldn’t see past helping my own friend. I didn’t see your pain and I’m truly sorry. I do hope you can forgive me. If you’re going to be friends with Sebastian, I hope that someday we can be friends too. Anyway, I’ve said what I came here to say. I think I should leave you two to it. You have a lot of talking to do,” he stated simply.  As he turned to walk toward the door, he clapped Sebastian on the back and mouthed to him ‘goodluck.’</p><p>As Zain had walked away, Amity could only find herself quietly sobbing. She regretted that she made someone feel this way—yet at the same time she couldn’t help but feel a little angry that her own feelings were dismissed. But logically, if she were in the same position as Zain, there was nothing she wouldn’t have done to protect a person she cared about. Care, such a raw human emotion amongst all the other crap. Perhaps she even ought to thank him. Someone must care for the big guy.</p><p>Tears stilled brimmed in her eyes as she looked to Sebastian with a sullen expression. She watched as he sat on the edge of her bed across from her and stared at the ground. Amity watched him for several silent moments before she got to her feet and crossed the space between them. Bringing a finger underneath his chin, she moved his head so that his gaze was on her. A soft gasp escaped her lips as she examined the damage she had done to his face. Amity could see 4 distinct lines running across his face. For having been severely injured only days ago, he was healing pretty nicely compared to how she thought he might have. This was despite the edges of the pink lines looking a little redder and angrier.</p><p>“Sebastian. I am so fucking sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, and look at what I did… there was so much blood!” she cringed at the memory within her head.</p><p>“I should be the one apologising to you. You were telling me to stop and I thought it was because you found the hold a bit hard. I didn’t realise it was bringing up those horrible memories for you. I’m so fucking sorry Amity, I shouldn’t have done that to you. Could you forgive me?” he asked softly, pressing his head into the gentle palm of her hand. </p><p>A sad smile graced her lips. “What was there to forgive? You were just trying to help me. I don’t want that to stop,” she whispered.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Among Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity makes a new friend and is invited to enjoy herself, one night inhibition free.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Somewhat of a fluffy chapter. Enjoy the mild thirsting.</p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Rick Leonard. This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p><p>We are now officially caught up to all the written work that I have! I will see you beauties in a week or two for the next chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The following day was a sunny Saturday, and rather than do nothing, Amity’s parent’s had her out working in the front yard. The hot sun beat down on her sweaty back as she plucked the weeds littering their neglected front lawn. The tune of a metal song played through her headphones loudly as she slowly piled high the invasive weeds.</p><p>Leaning back on her heels, she wiped the sweat from her eyes with the back of her hand and took a couple of deep breaths. Amity had forgotten how hard this work was, it had been so long since she had done it. As she was about to continue plucking at the ground, a moving truck came into the corner of her vision. It slowly pulled up to the curb of the house next door and swung wide so it could back up into the driveway. Following the truck was a modest older SUV.</p><p>Amity watched the house from the corner of her eye with mild interest. The doors to the SUV opened and out stepped a greying middle-aged man, and a cute girl. She was possibly one of the shortest people Amity had ever seen, with fiery red hair and fair skin. She had never seen her wandering school grounds before. She must be new.</p><p>Now was as good a time as any to introduce herself to the new face. Amity grunted as she took off her gloves and threw them at the ground before rising to her feet and heading in the direction of the newcomers. She lifted her arm and waved at them, a small smile on her face as she approached. The older man turned to look at her and she could see a grimace forming on his face. What the fuck? Turning her gaze to the girl however was a different story. She was looking up at Amity with a broad grin. That’s more like it.</p><p>“Hey there, sorry to bother but I thought I’d come introduce myself. I’m Amity Laine. Can’t say I’ve seen you around before,” she said with a curious tone.</p><p>“Oh no don’t worry you’re not interrupting,” she laughed, “My name is Ruby Leune! We’re new to this area. And… I’m home-schooled.” She spoke shyly. That only served to make Amity even more curious.</p><p>“Wow, I’ve never met someone who was home-schooled before. Kind of a shame, I would have liked to have seen your face around,” she stated.<br/>
Ruby’s father approached from behind her, placing a hand on his daughters’ shoulder and squeezing subtly–but Amity noticed. “Come Ruby, we have to unpack,” he muttered. He really didn’t seem like much of a people person, that man.</p><p>‘I’m sorry’ the girl mouthed.</p><p>“Well, it was nice to meet you. I hope I can see you at the school one of these days. I don’t think it’s too late in the year to start. Think about it,” she said to the smaller girl with a smile, before returning to her pile of weeds and continuing her work.</p><p>Amity made quick work of showering and ridding herself of the sweat and dirt from the hard day’s work, when she heard her phone ping in her room. Walking back to pick it up, she saw she had a text from Ezra.</p><p>‘Want to do something tonight? Come to mine maybe? We can have a drink!’ the text read.</p><p>She thought about it for a long moment before shooting off the question of who would be there.</p><p>Her phone dinged again as it lit up. ‘Don’t know, you’re the first person I asked. Maybe you, me, Kyle, Ty, Sebastian perhaps?’</p><p>She mulled it over for a second and decided it would be good to do something genuinely fun for once. It had been easily two and a half months since she had last gone to a party. And this technically didn’t count, so maybe it would be ok. She walked into the lounge where her parents were watching TV.</p><p>“Hey, mom, dad. Ezra invited me to her house with Kyle, Ty, and Sebastian. Would it be ok for me to go?” She asked curiously. </p><p>They looked at each other for a moment before nodding at her. “Only if you get a pickup. We’re glad you’re trying Amity,” her dad spoke with pride.</p><p>Amity thought of the girl next door. She really should extend the invitation out to her to come. It would be a good way to meet people in a new town. And honestly, if she were in her position, she hoped someone would think of her too. She raced out of her front door in her pyjamas to Ruby’s new house and knocked firmly on the door. Amity heard heavy footfalls moving throughout the house before the creak of the door as it opened. Ruby’s father stood in the doorway with a grimace on his face.</p><p>“Yes? What is it?” he said, to the point.</p><p>“Oh Mr. Leune! Good evening! I was just coming by to ask if it would be ok if Ruby could come with me to a friend’s house tonight?” she queried. Hearing the rush of a small form in the upper area of the house, she could tell Ruby was racing to get downstairs.</p><p>“Why on earth would you want her company,” he spat.</p><p>Amity flinched and moved herself unconsciously into a defensive stance. What was this guys fucking problem?! “I just thought it would be good for her to meet new people, being new to town and all,” she snapped at him.</p><p>Ruby ran between Amity and her father who looked like they were sizing each other up. Not unusual as far as her social life went. The girl turned to her father with pleading eyes. “Please, I would actually love to go. I’ll have my phone, and you won’t have to look at me all night. I’ve almost got my room unpacked, but I promise I’ll finish everything else this weekend. Please!” she begged, clapping her hands together.</p><p>The man grumbled a barely intelligible ‘fucking fine’ before turning on his heel and storming away from the pair.</p><p>A wide grin spread across the small girl's face. “Thank you so much Amity!” she beamed.</p><p>“Not a problem. It’s just a small gathering, outside though, so consider that. If you get ready, you can come to mine and wait for my ride there!” she said with a smile. “For now, I need to go get ready myself. See you soon Ruby!” she said, turning to walk back down the path to her house with a wave.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Amity was busying herself with brushing out her messy hair when there was a knock on the door. She could hear the cheerful surprise in her parents tones as they greeted her and guided the girl to her room.</p><p>“Amity! You didn’t tell us you made a new friend! Ruby is here,” her mom cheered while gently pushing Ruby inside. “You girls have a good time now!” she said, before walking away.</p><p>“Wow, Amity, you look pretty great,” she noted, looking over the taller girl from head to toe.</p><p>Amity was dressed in a loose, black cropped t-shirt that was lazily tucked into a plain white, high waisted skirt. The skirt hung loosely around her frame, and ended mid-thigh. She paired the look with some simple sandals, leaving her white locks to flow loosely. </p><p>Amity turned away from her mirror and quirked a brow at her, looking them over herself. </p><p>Ruby had her red hair pulled back into a loose bun, and wore a simple white crop top that stopped just below the base of her sternum. A pink skater skirt sat comfortably above her navel, exposing her midriff, and a pair of sneakers finished the look.</p><p>“You look pretty good yourself Ruby,” Amity complimented while looking the smaller girl over. “And don’t worry about first impressions. Trust me, I think you’ll do great,” she said softly.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Sebastian pulled up alongside the curb of Amity’s house and honked his horn. It seemed he was the one on pick up duty tonight. He watched the door lazily, until it opened, and his throat tightened. He wondered as he stared at Amity, why was he so thirsty all of a sudden? Beside him, Zain was equally as stunned but he knew that he wasn’t looking at Amity.</p><p>“Who the fuck is that?” Zain asked in a tight tone, not taking his eyes from her.</p><p>“I have no idea. I guess we’ll be finding out before long. Behave yourself, Zain. I won’t hesitate to kick your ass if you’re anything less than polite,” he half joked. As he continued to look at Amity’s approaching form, he swallowed.</p><p>Amity thought the drive to Ezra’s house felt weirdly tense. But for what reason, she couldn’t truly pinpoint why. The men in the front seat barely gave single worded replies the whole way there, and some of the responses were simply straight up grunting. What the hell was that about? she wondered.</p><p>As they pulled up to Ezra’s house, Amity began to feel tense. She couldn’t believe after so long she was back here where everything happened. But maybe this would be good for her. She had read that sometimes going back to places where trauma occurs and replacing them with good memories can help the recovery process. She hoped that the theory was true. She really did want to have fun today.</p><p>Hopping out of the car, Amity quickly made her way down the path with Ruby in tow. She was in a hurry to cross the thresh-hold and just get it over with; or else she might never do it. Ruby was far too excited to even notice in the first place that anything was wrong with Amity.</p><p>The girls walked with the two men in tow to see their friends getting a fire pit set up. Upon walking outside, a small Siberian Husky bounded over to them, tail wagging wildly as she jumped up to try and get attention from the newcomers.</p><p>“Cedar! Down!” Ezra called out, but the dog of course didn’t listen to her. “Hey guys, I’m sorry. The last time you were here, Cedar was put away. She gets excited about new people so she might not leave you alone. Also, try not to feed her. She’ll become obsessed,” she laughed.</p><p>Ruby grinned broadly down at the dog and had no reservations about getting to her level and being smothered as she talked to her. “I actually really love dogs; she can do whatever she likes. She’s cute!” she laughed again as she smoothed her hands over the dog’s soft fur.</p><p>The guys stepped away from Amity and Ruby to help with the fire, while the girls fawned over the dog for a few more moments. Ezra walked past them back toward the house throwing a smile their way as she went by. Amity turned to follow her and, without having to say anything, Ruby followed suit.</p><p>“Oh, hey girls. What are you doing in here?” Ezra asked as she half turned to look at them.</p><p>“Nothing, we were just wondering if we can help at all?” Amity asked while looking over the items on the countertop.</p><p>“Oh, well you don’t have too but it’s always welcomed! I already got started on the meat, but I still have vegetables, stock and the pastry to do,” She stated as she motioned around at the ingredients on the bench.</p><p>The girls busied themselves with cooking. Amity still considered herself relatively useless with cooking, so she decided her best bet was peeling and roughly chopping the vegetables that would make the stock. They laughed at jokes one another made as they cooked. Eventually Ezra brought out the wine and they began drinking early. It was a sweet liquid–Moscato if she could remember correctly–and with each glass, the rowdier the trio got, the more mess they made, and the closer they became.</p><p>Pulling the country style chicken pie from the oven, the girls admired Ruby’s effort in the pastry art. The pastry was golden brown, and frankly, Amity almost didn’t want to eat it. She didn’t know if it was her intoxication or not, but the pie was just too damned pretty.<br/>
“Don’t cut it yet Ezra! The guys need to see this! Ruby did such a good job!” she hiccupped.</p><p>Sebastian helped the other guys stack the fire pit with larger logs, smaller twigs and paper they could use as a fire starter. They made quick work of stoking the flames. Listening to the logs crackle under the darkening evening sky was in its own way quite peaceful.</p><p>After retrieving a beer from the cooler that was set out a bit further from the pit, Sebastion rejoined his friends and sat down on one of the logs surrounding the fire pit. They continued their evening like that for some time. Laughing about things that didn’t matter, or talking about the games they’d all played recently. The orange glow of the fire lit up Sebastian’s features. None of them bothered to go and check on the wild giggling of the girls in the house, until Amity came crashing outside.</p><p>Sebastian’s head turned toward the commotion and watched as Amity just about fell over opening the glass sliding door. But that didn’t stop her from laughing at her own clumsiness. For the first time in a while, he was taken back to that night when he first saw her truly carefree and laughing like she had no cares in the world.</p><p>“Wow,” he said out loud, to no one in particular. Hearing snickers around the fire he turned his head back with a quizzical look to the other men.</p><p>“I haven’t seen her that wasted, period. She actually looks like she’s really having fun,” Kyle remarked with a smirk as he lifted his drink to his lips, eyes staying on his friend.</p><p>“She’s pretty fucked up,” Ty remarked out loud. A smirk played on his lips as he sipped the red wine from the glass he had balanced in his left hand.</p><p>Sebastian looked dead ahead at the fire before him as he listened to her clumsy approach; and although he could hear her, he was still surprised when she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him from behind.</p><p>“Sebastian,” she whispered his name teasingly in his ear and giggled as he visibly shuddered. She pulled away from him and walked to dance around the fire, her laughter filled the night sky.</p><p>“What the fuck is she doing?” Zain asked as he turned and looked quizzically at the startled man sitting next to him.</p><p>“I have to agree with Zain, Amity what the fuck are you doing?” Kyle asked, sipping his drink again.</p><p>“Pie is ready! It's so pretty! Come see!” she sang out as she stopped dancing and sauntered back towards the house.</p><p>“You feeling ok there?” Ty asked Sebastion pointedly as Kyle snickered. Ty couldn’t help but chuckle lowly at the man before him. His eyes were wide, and a scarlet red had creeped up his neck and onto his cheeks.</p><p>Sebastian’s eyes snapped to Ty’s and he started to laugh and wave it off, “Oh? What do you mean? I’m perfectly fine! Let's go see that pie.” He laughed awkwardly, but no one was convinced. Not even himself. What was happening to him? He got up from the log with a beer in hand and waited for the guys to follow suit as they headed inside. The group of friends had to admit, the pie did look really good. And they would be lying if they said they weren’t impressed by their latest addition to their friend group. Zain seemed especially enamoured.</p><p>“Ok, that mess shouldn’t be handling a knife so someone get her the fuck out of the kitchen please,” Ezra requested. Kyle stepped up and took her by the wrist, guiding her towards the dining table while muttering vaguely about her smelling like a vineyard, causing Ty to look at his own wine glass as he snickered.</p><p>Sebastian had to admit: that pie was delicious. It was crisp on the outside, filled with the flavour of chicken, carrot, potato, corn and celery held together by a creamy sauce that had the slight tang of curry powder. He had no regrets about coming here tonight if it meant good food and being close to his new friends.</p><p>After they had finished eating, the group returned to the fireplace, stoking it again. But this time Ezra had brought her wireless speaker outside with her, and even more wine was added to the cooler. Sebastian sat comfortably by the fire with Ty and Zain as they watched the girls–and Kyle–dance along wildly to some 2000’s pop song that was, according to those screaming buffoons, iconic.</p><p>After some point, Kyle and the girls had roped them all into dancing. But they were all already too drunk to care about how badly they were doing it. He looked around at his friends and saw how much fun they were all having, and wished it could be like this all the time. Zain and Ruby had since returned to the fire and looked to be deep in conversation, and every so often she would smile brightly and laugh at something he said. The remainder of them had continued to dance until he got too tired himself, and returned to the fireplace alongside Zain and Ruby. The fire before him seemed to reflect more and more of his soul as he watched the gentle sway of Amity’s hips, and the broad grin upon her face while she had fun with her friends.</p><p>“You should shut your mouth. You might drool less,” Zain snickered when looking at his friend.</p><p>“Wait, you and Amity? I didn’t know she had someone?” Ruby questioned as Sebastian shook his head no.</p><p>“She isn’t with anyone,” he growled out. “There is no me and her.” He sighed with frustration.</p><p>“Sure didn’t look like it when she was in your ear earlier,” Ruby smirked. “It didn’t look like she minded being close to you at all to me,” she noted.</p><p>“Yeah, well you don’t know what’s happened to her. I won’t take advantage,” he spat.</p><p>“Woah man, she didn’t mean it like that, did you Ruby?” Zain asked her gently, and she confirmed.</p><p>“She just looks happy with you, is what I meant. And you didn’t seem to hate it either. Think about it, for a different time perhaps?” she suggested gently.</p><p>He considered Ruby’s words and tried to shake them from his head. He couldn’t have her, not when he knew he was leaving, and his mind would never be changed. Not for anyone. She was a deep person with many complex emotions, and he didn’t want to just lead her on. She didn’t even know he was going. Would it hurt her?</p><p>As the night drew to a close it was determined by Ezra that the best thing for Amity was to go home and wake up in her own bed.</p><p>“I’ll take her home, Ezra. If you have a spare blanket, I can keep her warm on the walk. I can’t drive, I’m way too fucked up,” Sebastian said, speech slurring slightly while he stood in the loungeroom with the other two girls.</p><p>Ezra nodded as she walked from her loungeroom into the hall and pulled out a spare blanket from the linen cupboard.</p><p>“I’ll text her parents so they know that you’re walking her home. Message us in the morning ok?” She said softly in an effort not to disturb the almost passed out figure.</p><p>“What about Ruby? She lives next door, right?” he asked softly.</p><p>“She’s staying the night. She already told her dad where she is, she’ll be safe. I can walk her tomorrow. Go, take her home Sebastian,” she said with a soft push toward the front door.</p><p>Sebastian walked with Amity bridal style in his arms, covered in the comfortable warmth of a blanket. She nuzzled into his chest and sighed deeply as she breathed in his scent. He threw back his head and groaned. Why couldn’t she just make this easy on him? At this rate he would never achieve his goal of distance that he wanted. Before too long, Amity’s house came into view. The front porch light was left on, but he could tell no one else was awake.</p><p>He carried her up the steps to her room and, taking the blanket from her, placed her down on her bed. She pressed her face into his hand and her eyes fluttered open as she asked him a simple question.</p><p>“Stay?” she asked shyly. Her small hand wrapped around his own.</p><p>As much as he wanted to, the soft plea couldn’t be ignored, and he climbed under the covers with her and cuddled into her warmth. Just sleep, just for a few hours. Slowly, his eyes drifted shut.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>The soft morning light began to filter in through the blinds and he groaned softly in protest of the light waking him. He pulled the softness he was holding back towards him, nuzzling into it, allowing his eyes to close again. It made a sound of protest and his eyes snapped open. That is when the events of last night came to the forefront of his mind as he watched Amity’s peaceful form sleeping in his arms. He couldn’t deny how good it felt to wake up to her and hold her in his arms—but he had crossed a line by agreeing to get into bed with her last night.</p><p>Did he regret it? Right now he didn’t, but there is a possibility that he would regret it later. Sebastian slowly and carefully lifted the bedsheets and blankets from his body and slipped away from her sleeping form. He didn’t want to walk away right now, but it was for the best. Pulling the sheets and blankets up underneath her chin, he smoothed her now messy hair with a sad smile before turning to leave her room, collecting the blanket he covered her with on his way out. </p><p>The clock in the kitchen told him it was around 6:20 in the morning. Just as perfect a time as any to start heading back to Ezra’s house. The chill of the morning air bit at his skin and he found himself simultaneously wishing he were back in bed with Amity and wanting to slap some sense into himself. He growled at himself before picking up his pace.</p><p>Knowing the back door would be unlocked, he reaches to the top of the fence line and uses it as a grip to vault himself over the top. Landing in the yard with a thud, he quickly straightens himself and stomps into the house.</p><p>“Well good morning to you too?” Ezra squeaked from behind the kitchen counter. She had already started the clean up it seemed. </p><p>“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you; I’m just frustrated with myself. Let me help,” he huffed. </p><p>Slowly the pair made their way through the house, picking up cans, bottles, and wrappers. Jesus, how did they get that wasted last night? There was alcohol everywhere. He moved from cleaning inside, to picking up the trash outside and cleaning out the fire pit, before coming back inside and heading into the loungeroom to relax for a few minutes. </p><p>He strode to the couch and all but threw himself on it with a huff–when he heard a loud shushing from across the room. Everyone was in here sleeping. Except for Zain. The man was laying on his makeshift bed on his back grinning like a Cheshire cat, all because Ruby was sleeping with her fingers tangled in his hair while in her own bed. He smirked at his friend’s enthusiasm and looked away, simply closing his eyes once more and accepting sleep in any form that it wished to come, trying not to think of the white-haired beauty he slept alongside last night.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Into The Woods</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity, her friends and family head into the woods for a week of camping before it's time to return for finals.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter contains a bit of filler to help build up the characters a little bit more, and some funny moments. Apologies for it taking so long to post a chapter, I have had family problems that took away my attention. But rest assured I'm still here! As always, I appreciate any feedback or comments you may have to give!</p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). And a big thanks to my beta readers who help to read through each page that makes up a chapter as they are written. You guys are valued, and awesome. Art of each character will be coming soon, created by none other than Rick Leonard. This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p><p>I will have more pages written for the next chapter in the coming week or two, see you beauties soon!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Amity groaned as she brought a hand up to her head. Why was it pounding so much? She cracked her eyes open and squinted as she took in her surroundings. What was she doing back home? She sat upright and immediately felt ill. Throwing off her bedsheets she raced from her room into her toilet with just enough time to spare before she threw up. She heard her mom sigh in the living room and the soft chuckle of her father, before their footsteps.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I take it judging by the hangover, you had fun last night?” Her mother cringed as Amity vomited again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t… I don’t remember. I think so. Why am I here?” she questioned through gasping breaths.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That Sebastian kid brought you home last night. He seems nice. They thought it would be easier for you to be home. Make sure you thank them, ok? Here’s some water,” her dad said softly, passing the water to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity’s parent’s left her to ride out her first proper hangover alone, and for that she was somewhat glad. She spent the next few hours sipping water and hugging the toilet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After the killer hangover from the weekend, it was time to return to school for yet another week. And Amity still can’t quite remember most of it. She remembered pie, dancing like tomorrow would never come, and an almost endless flow of wine. She also remembered the eyes trained on her for almost the whole night, but not much more than that. She was still sporting that same headache on the Monday when she met with her friends in their first class of the day: Hospitality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After settling their score with one another, Zain and Amity were able to be in the same space as each other again with no problems. It would be nice to have him in the friends group when they were in class together like they were now. The teacher sat the class down and had begun the lesson when a tiny form burst through the door and almost doubled over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry I’m late!” they cried out while their chest heaved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be late next time and you won’t be so exhausted,” the teacher scoffed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They straightened, and Amity was able to get a good look at the newcomer. Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her face at the realisation it wasn’t just any new student. It was Ruby. She must have found a way to convince her father to ease up and let her do her own thing. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Good on her</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby approached their table with a wide grin on her face and gave them a small wave. “Hey guys! Pretty relieving seeing you all in this class!” Ruby beamed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well if you think about it, we all love food a little too much, so it only makes sense. You can sit with us if you like,” Ezra mused from her seat, gesturing to a spare table next to Zain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did you convince the old man, Ruby? He seemed pretty intent on keeping you away from other people,” Amity asked curiously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well… Lets just say I made him want to keep me away from him more than other people. I outmanoeuvred him,” she said smugly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity smiled at that before turning her attention back towards the front of the classroom to follow along with the lesson. The teacher was running through health and safety practices, before making a quick note to the class that the next assignment would be in pairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Make sure you pick well, your overall grade depends on the both of you!” the teacher warned the class.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, Amity. Want to partner up? Maybe you could learn a couple of things from me,” Ezra asked her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s honestly not such a bad idea. Yeah, we can do that,” she agreed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Looking around the table, she noted that Kyle and Ty had paired but wondered just how much work they would get done. Both men were silent as they sketched on their assignment papers, typical. Ruby and Zain had also paired off which made a lot of sense to her. They seemed to really hit it off at the gathering at Ezra’s a few nights ago; it would be good for Ruby to grow her friendships. But that left Sebastian without a partner himself and Amity had felt bad about that. Pairing with Ezra was for the best though, since she had no idea how to cook anything effectively and Ezra did. It was more about learning from her skills, but the grade boost was going to be welcomed. She mouthed a sorry to the man before her, but he just waved her off with a smile on his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The teacher ended up picking a pairing for Sebastian as he wouldn’t do it himself. Amity couldn’t decide whether or not he was lucky. He was paired with none other than Jurden. The man was always dripping in expensive clothing and flirting with people around campus. Although, Amity had never once seen him participate in a relationship. Jurden had walked up to the table and sat himself down next to Sebastian while giving him a lustful look.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, how big is your dick?” he questioned, sending a wink in his direction.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity thought there was a likelihood that she would remember the first time Jurden had said that for possibly the rest of her life. But she would also remember watching Sebastian not skipping a single beat when he looked Jurden in the eye as he leaned in towards him with a smirk—before his face went blank and he followed up with: ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ in a deadpan tone. Did he just… did he just try to play Jurden at his own game?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It had been great meeting these wonderful people. Her life, while still not easy and still experiencing struggles, was at minimum liveable with them in it. Her parents, her friends, Sebastian. Not that she would ever tell them, but with them in her life she didn’t hurt so much. She could face her days and her anger ahead knowing she didn’t have to do any of it alone. They made her smile; they made her laugh, and they made her love. Especially after her trauma, they were just there. And she would love them always. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Days blended into weeks and before long school was out again. It wouldn’t be too long before she would have to go back and complete her final exams, and after that, step out into the real world. The thought was simultaneously scary and exciting. There was no telling what the future held for her and she looked towards it with anticipation. For the next few weeks however, she would get to enjoy her time as a teenager. It was even her birthday really soon. Hope and happiness sparked in her chest as she walked into the loungeroom where her parents were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Walking to the recliner that filled the corner space, she sat down and looked to her parents with a smile, one that they had returned. They were happy to see some of the spirit their daughter once had burning alive and well in her soul.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Amity,” her father started to talk, putting down the tablet that he was looking at. “Your mother and I were talking, and we think we’d like to go on a little vacation. Swimming, hunting, a bit of relaxation especially before your finals, and for your birthday. How does that sound?” he offered with a hopeful smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I mean, it sounds great and all but I don’t know how to hunt dad, I don’t think I could hit the target,” she laughed, leaning forward in her seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s ok. I’ll just teach you. You never got to meet your grandfather, but he was a skilled hunter and I learned from him. I’m not as good and I haven’t been in a long time, but I bet we’ll do just fine, kid,” he remarked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity considered it for a moment as a grin spread across her face. “Can I talk to my friends about it? I think they were talking about camping, maybe they know a good spot? It would be nice to have everyone together all at once and we can still hunt,” she pleaded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think that’s fine. But let it be our treat. We never got to truly show our gratitude to your friends. I want to pay their kindness back to them,” her mom said softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You guys are the best! I’ll go handle it!” she yelled with excitement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She dashed from the loungeroom and back toward her room. She picked up her phone from her side table and sat down on the edge of her bed as she composed a group text to her friends; to ask their availability and get straight into planning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra mentioned there was a location in the mountains not even an hour from them that had cabins and good facilities, and that was usually where people their age went on breaks. It wasn’t big game season, but they could still hunt turkeys up there if they could find any. She hoped more than anything that she would be able to see Sebastian there. It had been a couple of weeks since she had seen him already and to be frank, she missed him. She missed their self-defence lessons too.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slowly, each one of her friends had responded with a “yes”, which pleased her. She figured for the most part it was because her own parents would be present to oversee them, but she knew they weren’t going to be on their case. She grinned as the person she wanted to see the most accepted. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Over the course of the next week the planning for the trip kicked into high gear. Kyle had decided he was going to stay at the Laine residence to help prepare and be with his secondary family. Together, Amity and Kyle sorted out packing their clothes, and helped Amity’s dad load up the family SUV with their suitcases, fishing poles, shotguns, dry goods, and alcohol. They had decided with so many of them, they would book one of the larger lake cabins, so they didn’t have to pack an excessive amount of tents. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A knock sounded from the front door in the later evening on the Friday night before they were due to drive to the campsite. Amity rushed to the door and pulled it open, with a broad grin she stepped aside to let them in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Ruby! Come in. Kyle and I were just about to start a movie,” she stated, gesturing for her to come inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That sounds great—but I actually just came to drop my suitcase, so we don’t have to worry about it in the morning. I don’t want to waste any time,” she said, gesturing to her suitcase. “Anyways, ‘dad’ won’t let me stay away longer than what he’s already given me. I was lucky he said yes so I don’t want to push his buttons,” she said with a sheepish smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, well that sucks but I understand all the same. Come on, we’ll go load it now,” she turned her head toward her room and called out, “Kyle, come help!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity reached out and took Ruby’s suitcase from her and headed into the garage with Ruby in tow. She put the bag down next to the car and reached up to the roof rack to adjust the tie-downs keeping their bags in place. As she started to loosen the straps, Kyle walked through the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, Ruby, I need you to get up where you can see the strap. Kyle, I need you to go to the other side so you can throw it back over,” she instructed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Kyle and Ruby moved into place, Amity had completely undone the tie-downs and thrown the long section of the tie back towards Kyle. She reached down and picked up the somewhat heavy case, and hoisted it above her head on top of her own suitcase–before making a gesture with her hands she knew Kyle couldn’t even see.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok Kyle, throw the tie back to me. Ruby, all I need you to do is make sure it's straight and not flipped on itself,” she requested.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle quickly flipped the tie over the car back to Amity. Ruby made quick work of fixing the twisted parts of the tie-down before Amity looped it back through the ratchet and set to securing the suitcase onto the roof racks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, all done! Thanks for the help guys.” She smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby followed Kyle and Amity back into her bedroom and sat in the armchair as Amity and Kyle flopped down onto her bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, what’s going to be happening in the morning?” Ruby queried the pair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, our car is going to be full, but I spoke to Sebastian just the other day and agreed to take the others in his car,” Kyle stated simply.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, you’re coming with us–but it’s easier and cheaper for the others to carpool together than to take separate cars. So, that is what they’re going to do. Try being here by eight, if what Ezra said is right it shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours to get to the lake,” Amity said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Afterwards, Ruby returned home for the night to prepare herself for the next week ahead.</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span>
  <span>It really was the perfect start to their trip. The sun was shining brightly with the blue of the sky on full display. There was no chance of it raining today and Amity preferred if it would stay that way. The drive even felt like it passed quickly. It ended up taking them around 3 hours to reach the lake side and the campgrounds were positively bustling with activity. There were many families with young kids as well as plenty of teenagers her own age around the grounds as well. Amity felt like she was bouncing off the excitement and fun vibes in the atmosphere and found herself feeling pleasantly excited for a change.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t long after the Laine’s car pulled up in the dirt driveway of the cabin that her friends had arrived. Ezra, Zain, Ty and Sebastian quickly jumped out of the car and got into helping everyone unpack everything and prepare for the week ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra and Ruby helped Amity’s mother to organise the kitchen, sorting the utensils, dry goods and fridge space while Sebastian and Zain were busied unloading the suitcases from both cars. Amity, Kyle and Ty set to taking the fishing poles and hunting equipment into the cabin while her father started to organise a fire for them outdoors.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone had decided who they would be rooming with before they came to the lake and quickly split off into their allocated rooms to unpack. Amity and Ruby were going to share a queen room together, while Kyle, Ty and Ezra had chosen to take the bunk rooms and Zain and Sebastian would be together in the twin room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Come the afternoon, the sun's rays had nicely heated the water and was more than enticing to the youths rushing toward it, laughing loudly at the ridiculous spectacle they must have made of themselves, tripping and splashing on the stony base of the lake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity screamed loudly as she felt something come up from beneath her and launch her from the surface of the water while keeping a grip on her. She looked down quickly and scowled upon seeing the culprit of her fright was none other than Kyle himself. Amity held a firm grip on his hair to keep herself balanced as he laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I should really get you to wrap your legs around my head more often!” he quipped with his signature cheeky grin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity gasped and let go of his hair and swatted at him. “You dirty fucking bastard!” she screamed as he continued to hold on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wow Amity, there was a lot I knew about you, but a screamer huh? I’m impressed,” he taunted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You better shut up before I give you something to scream about Kyle, fucking shit stirrer,” she growled out, “And let me go!” she pleaded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle sighed with a dramatic nod of his head. “Hmm, I suppose I can let you go,” he muttered, before laughing loudly as he tossed Amity back into the water, just about flipping her in the process. The group snickered at the interaction, and Ty had wondered how Amity would plan to get back at her ever-embarrassing friend.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian however was less than enthused watching their interaction. Was there something between them? Kyle’s wording implied that was indeed the case and for the first time ever, the man found jealousy bubbling inside his chest at the mere thought of them together. Then after the jealousy came the worry. He had enjoyed keeping Amity close to him all those weeks ago—but if the two were a couple shouldn’t Kyle at least know about that happening since Amity clearly didn’t remember? He never meant to get so close and even though he made sure nothing else happened, he felt shame at the prospect that he could have possibly been moving in on a relationship he was not privy to. He didn’t want to be that man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian decided he would find the right time later in the night to talk to Kyle and apologise.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Confrontational</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the first few days of camping Amity struggles to understand and confront her feelings after finding out about something that happened in her recent past. She forms stronger bonds with her loved ones and enjoys a bit of downtime before a familiar feeling resurfaces inside her soul.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! Managed to get out this chapter fairly quickly compared to previous uploads and I hope you enjoy what we have in store for our characters! There is a lot of feelings going into this chapter and I hope you're enjoying the direction of the story as we continue to build it up! This is my first big writing project and we are learning as we go. Please feel free to comment or leave feedback, if you're enjoying the story I would love to know!</p><p>Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p><p>I will have more pages written for the next chapter in the coming week or two, see you beauties soon!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sun was sinking below the tree line and a cool chill swept across the lake, biting at Amity’s skin. The cool air made her shiver as she watched the sun retreat. The sound of crickets chirping in the grass filled the air, accompanied by the approach of footsteps crunching on grass. Amity turned her head toward the newcomer, noticing it was Ty and smiled softly as she patted the spot next to her. Ty sat next to her on the soft grass and began to sign to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you ok out here alone? It’s starting to get cold now,” he questioned her. Amity nodded quickly as she formed her response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m perfectly fine, I just wanted to watch the sunset. It’s so peaceful out here, don’t you think?” She asked him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a nod, Ty smiled at her. “I certainly wouldn’t disagree. Perfect for practicing some more signing, don’t you think?” he asked her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, I could use some work. Let’s get to it then!” she smiled broadly at him and turned to face him as they began their lakeside lesson.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The cabin sat relatively close in proximity to the lakeside, and sat around the fire was the group of friends; while Amity’s parents, Ruby and Ezra tended to the barbecue a bit further off. Sebastian sat by the fire with Kyle and Zain, beers in hand as they quietly watched the two by the lake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s a fast learner, she’s getting better and better at communicating with him in sign,” Kyle stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, at least she can help us understand him by translating now. I’d like to know what I’m being called when he’s calling me out,” Zain joked. “Can’t say the same for her defence training. You haven’t done any for the last few weeks, have you Seb?” Zain asked the man casually.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian nodded and took a sip of his beer as he continued to watch them. “No, we haven’t done any training in the recent weeks. I’ve just been busy doing one thing or another. I do wonder if she remembers much of it,” he mused simply. Sebastian’s eyes flicked across the fire to land on Kyle, who was grinning ear to ear and laughing to himself. He raised an eyebrow in silent question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was just wondering about how strong she must be now; she’s changed in the last year. She is…not as soft as she once was. I know you’ve noticed,” he quipped. “I won’t lie, I want her to step on me,” he said seriously as he turned his gaze towards the pair by the lake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian promptly choked on the beer he had just sipped and looked at the man in disbelief. How could he so openly say he wanted that from her? Zain couldn’t help but to descend into hysterics over the flustered look on his friend’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Red suits you Sebastian,” he mocked the scarlet faced man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck off. Isn’t she your friend Kyle?” Sebastian spat as he demanded an answer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, she is. Doesn’t impede on my want for her to step on me though,” he replied simply as he sipped the beer in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then why don’t you do something about it? If you’re interested in her shouldn’t you just come out and say it? She seems to be interested too,” Sebastian growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed to him as though his suspicions were confirmed, until Kyle started laughing at him. The man quickly devolved into hysterics and slapped his knee as he wheezed. Kyle pointed at Sebastian with his beer in hand and howled in his hysterics drawing the gaze of everyone around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck is funny?” Sebastian demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You. You’re hilarious,” he wheezed. “You’re also blinder than Ezra is if you think we could ever be together. She’s not into me, and I’m not into her,” he stated with a shrug of his shoulders. “Doesn’t mean I can’t flirt with her though,” he added with a smirk.</span>
  <span></span><br/>

  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Sebastian was as confused now as he was before. He didn’t get any answers from Kyle outside of ‘She’s not into me, and I’m not into her.’ Straightforward right? Sebastian did not think it was that easy and now he just felt flustered and embarrassed after Kyle laughed at him. Was he really that blind?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Food’s ready guys!” Ezra called out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The call for food interrupted the somewhat awkward silence as everyone lined up. Each person took a paper plate and loaded it with sausages, bread, grilled potato slices, grilled chicken, steaks, and salad. Sebastian ate quietly as he watched the girls from across the fire, conversing while they ate their food, and thought about what he should do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He finished off his food and stood up to dump the scraps in the trashcan next to the barbeque before grabbing another beer from the cooler. He thanked Amity’s parents for dinner and walked down to the lakeside. It was not long before he had company. Zain sat down roughly next to him and threw an arm over his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, you going to tell me what earlier was about? And what’s wrong now?” Zain poked at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To be honest with you, I got jealous of Kyle earlier when he was being too up close and personal with Amity. I just…didn’t like it,.” Sebastian muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh wow, so you like her then?” he questioned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What! No…I can’t like her. I don’t want to step on Kyle’s toes,” Sebastian stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Were we listening to the same conversation? Kyle is not interested. If they were interested in each other I’m sure that something would have happened between them by now,” the man assured. “But again, they’re just friends. Why does this matter anyways, you’ve been off all day. What is bothering you?” Zain asked gently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We slept together,” Sebastian started, as a noise of surprise escaped Zain’s mouth, “Just before you say anything listen. It was when I took her home. She got really drunk and she didn’t want me to leave and…I really should have just left. But I’m too drawn to her. I shared her bed,” he spoke softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you have sex with her?” Zain asked in a serious tone. He looked to his friend for a moment and noted the serious and borderline disappointed expression on his face. He smiled at the thought that there was another person there to protect Amity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, we didn’t have sex. I can’t deny I’ve definitely thought about it. But I’m not going to sleep with her if she’s drunk. I wouldn’t want her to have regrets about that and I would want her full consent, and besides, mom always taught me consent is everything and I won’t betray that ideal. It wouldn’t be right,” Sebastian said softly. The man beside him breathed a sigh of relief and smacked him on the back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank god, you’re my friend Seb. And I know you’re stronger than me, but I still would have had to try kicking your ass if you did,” he laughed, a broad grin on his face. Sebastian smiled along with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Even still, I don’t know what to do about us going forward. I feel like I shouldn’t. School is so close to ending and we’re probably going different places. I don’t want her to feel trapped if it works out that way. She’s got a life of her own to lead,” he grumbled. Zain nodded in quiet contemplation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shouldn’t you let her be the judge of that?” Zain asked softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian hated to admit it, but the man had a point. He was painfully aware of his own attraction to Amity, but how did she feel about all of this? He wouldn’t know because he had never bothered to ask her, and the moment they had shared together in her bedroom had gone completely unremembered by Amity because she was far too intoxicated—and he never bothered to talk to her about it afterwards. His desire for her was strong, but he never even gave her the chance to speak for herself on the matter because he would always tell himself ‘it's better this way. I’m leaving soon.’ but would he ever give her the chance to make up her own mind with that information? Likely not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next day, Amity and her father decided it would be the perfect day for fishing. The skies were clear of clouds, the crystal blue colour reflecting off the lake's surface. Stones crunched underfoot as Amity and her father walked to the water's edge. Amity carried their camping chairs and fishing poles in her arms while her father carried the tackle box in one hand and a small cooler in the other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity set everything down on the ground, then got to pulling the chairs from their covers and opening them up for them to sit comfortably while they fished. Her dad set the cooler and tackle box down next to his chair, before flopping down into it with a deep sigh of contentment. Amity smiled as she looked to her father as he threw her a pre-mix can of whisky and cola. Reaching an arm up she quickly snatched it out of the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice catch, kid,” her dad chuckled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, I’m surprised you’re letting me drink right now though,” Amity smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, we’re on holiday. Plus, you’re going to be 18 in a couple of days; and don’t forget I was your age once. Teenagers drink, I’m not stupid. I’d rather you drink where I can keep an eye on you. But your little group of friends seems perfectly capable of looking after you,” he mused. “I especially don’t think Sebastian would ever let anything happen to you. As a father my instincts tell me I shouldn’t like the man. But for your sake I am trying to trust him,” he stated simply with a shrug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity was taken aback by the statement and she straightened in her chair as her eyes widened. “I don’t know what you mean, dad, he’s my friend you can trust him the same as all the others,” she muttered. Her father sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Amity, I saw him sneaking out of your room incredibly early in the morning. I’m not stupid. And don’t talk to me about how Kyle shares your bed too, that’s different. How Sebastian looks at you is different. I’m not disappointed in you by any means, so don’t worry about that, I just want to make sure you’re being careful with him and using protection, that’s all,” he teased, as her jaw dropped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No it's not like that! He stayed the night? I…I don’t even remember that!” she noted the look of concern on her fathers face as she continued, “I swear dad, to my knowledge I haven’t slept with him. I don’t think he would do something like that to me. Dad he was…he was there when it happened. I know I didn’t talk about it very much with you or with mom—but he was there that night, I know that you know that. He nearly killed the man that raped me.” She sucked in a breath at the rush of memories and her lip quivered. “I don’t think he would take advantage of me, but I need to clear this up with him,” she asserted. He nodded quietly in agreement with her words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll be frank, if it's anything less than a misunderstanding I will kick him out, Amity. So please tell me once you have that conversation. I want you to know that you can say ‘no’ at any time and at any point. There are times when you will not be able to provide your consent, and I hope that line is never crossed again like it was all those months ago. That includes when you are drinking. Unfortunately, in this world you can’t trust everyone to do the right thing,” he grumbled. A small smile graced Amity’s lips as she considered her fathers words for a moment, before nodding in agreeance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re right dad,” she started, with tears brimming in her eyes, “And I promise you if I’m ever in danger like that again, I’ll take what Sebastian has taught me and I’ll use it. I promise I’ll try my best to protect myself, and my friends. I never want any of them or myself to go through anything like that ever again.” She whimpered as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. He offered her a small smile as he reached out and held his daughters free hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, it’s ok, kid. You have some great friends around you, and I know you will all do your best for each other. I just wish the world had been kinder to you. You’ve grown into such a wonderful person. I am proud of your accomplishments, and your growth as a person. I never would have thought my daughter would have learned how to fight and defend–but you did, and learning how to sign simply to cater to a friend is a selfless feat. In the last few months you have come into your own as a person, and I know your journey has been rough, and I know you didn’t do any of this wanting praise, but you’re a good person. Your mother and I are so proud of you, Amity Eden Laine. Chase your dreams in life, love, and your future. I will always support you.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, let's fish!” he smiled broadly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity smiled at her father, releasing his hand, and used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears. She took a sip of her drink before placing it in the holder on the arm of her chair, and picked up their fishing poles from beside her. She had never felt closer with her father than in that moment, when she had been vulnerable with him and he provided her with nothing but love and support. She would never forget the day that she had spent with him by the lake, drinking and talking and fishing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, dad,” Amity declared with a small smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The feeling of red hot rage was building within the void as The Great Mother and Ares looked on at the conversation happening between father and daughter. Ares amber eyes blew wide as he screamed in anguish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could this happen?!” he snapped, whipping his head in Bendis’ direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We were asleep, Ares. There was nothing we could do to protect her. I’m sorry,” Bendis whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sadness and rage flowed like a river from The Great Mother and Ares, down onto Amity’s mortal body. They observed as the young woman’s face was drawn into a deep scowl as she retreated within her own mind while she fished next to her father, who was humming a pleasant tune. Bendis did not know how to handle this situation. She had not protected her vessel, and as a result, she was a broken version of herself. So much more perceptible to the emotions radiating off the humans around her. Was she achieving the original goal of obtaining information? Yes. However, would she be capable of acting when the time came? At this moment, it seemed highly unlikely. Bendis chewed her lip while she remained deep in thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want whoever did those things to her, dead. An animal wouldn’t do this, Bendis,” he growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bendis stayed silent as she continued to watch. She could see the peace dissipating from Amity’s body. Perhaps, when she was finally back with her own kind and leading them, she would finally get the happiness she had long since deserved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew the rage that boiled and seeped from Ares would not be leaving anytime soon—if at all. She just hoped that Amity would be ready for the surge and be able to handle herself when the time came for her to act. There was a possibility that if she became too overwhelmed too soon, it would completely break her, and her purpose would no longer be served.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Calm yourself, my child, we must not overwhelm her. Too much too soon could push her away while she is this high strung,” Bendis sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ares simply nodded his head and pursed his lips to refrain from commenting, slowly breathing in and out to allow some of his rage and blood lust to subside. As much as he loathed to admit: Bendis was correct. If he went too far with his feelings through their connection, he would completely overwhelm her. So, for now, he had to sit and wait patiently to make his move at a time convenient for Bendis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They watched quietly as the scowl receded from Amity’s face and was instead overtaken by excitement as she reeled a fish out of the water, smiling proudly at her adoptive parent. They did not see this as a moment of fun or enjoyment for Amity, but more an important practical training for her future—when she would inevitably need these skills to pass on to her own people.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ruby was finishing up with mashing the potatoes as the other women came through the back door and set to helping them plate everything up quickly. Once everyone had a plate of their own, they headed back outside to the newly started fire and sat down to their meals. Amity looked down to the plate with the crispy piece of fish, stacked with mashed potato, carrot and broccoli and smiled. It looked great.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you Ezra for cooking the fish, and Ruby for handling the vegetables!” her mother spoke before digging into her dinner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And thank you to Amity and Mr. Laine for catching the fish!” Ezra called out before shovelling a forkful of food into her mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, kids, you don’t need to be formal with us, just call us Rob and Serena,” her father demanded. Her friends cried out their agreement between mouthfuls of food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity couldn’t help but softly moan with the first bite of the flavourful food and remarked enthusiastically to Ezra and Ruby that their cooking efforts were not in vain. She wished she could have more, but she was completely full. She looked around the fire to all of her friends until her eyes fell on Sebastian. He was giving her a strange look, and was flushed red from his neck up to his face. What was that all about? She wondered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity slowly stood from the fire and looked over to Sebastian as she remembered her earlier conversation with her father. He returned her gaze and seemed to understand that she wanted his attention, and left his spot at the fire to follow her inside. The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by anyone at the fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just leave them be for a while, they need to sort something out. I’ll talk to you later, love,” he addressed his wife’s questioning look last. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity quietly walked to where she knew Sebastian was sharing his room with Zain, and opened the door with him trailing behind her. She turned to look behind herself and eyed him as he entered the room. He closed the door behind him and waited for her to speak first.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You slept in my room, after Ezra’s party. My dad told me that he saw you while we were talking today. And yet you said nothing. I want to know why,” Amity demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighed deeply and moved to sit on his bed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t find out or remember. You were wasted so I took you home. As I was about to leave, you asked me to stay, so I did,” he stated, staring at the floor. Amity sucked in a breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened? Did we have sex?” she demanded as her voice climbed an octave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian’s eyes snapped to her as his head jerked up in response to her question. He stared while carefully considering his response. “No, we didn’t have sex. But I’ll be honest and frank with you since you deserve that, I’ve absolutely thought about that. I can’t help but find you attractive. But I would never do that to you. I would not take advantage of you. We were both drunk out of our minds and I couldn’t hurt or disrespect you like that. We cuddled and I left—that’s it.” He searched her face while trying to reassure her that he didn’t do harm to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded slowly as she looked away from him. “And why did you not want me to find out or remember? Was it that regrettable for you?” she questioned softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian sighed deeply and ran a hand through his brown hair. “I don’t know what I’m doing after school finishes, and I don’t want to mess up any of your future plans by burdening them with feelings,” he muttered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her eyes snapped to his and she glared. He hated how that made him feel. He didn’t want her to look at him that way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shouldn’t you let me decide what to do about my own future and my own feelings?!” she growled. Amity crossed the room quickly to stand in front of him and look down at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stared up at her, silently in awe of her taking charge of herself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She was tired of people thinking she couldn’t make decisions for herself, or that she was too fragile to handle certain things. Treating her like a doll just made her feel even worse. She liked Sebastian, and was deeply upset that he thought he could take away her choice for how she would proceed with her future; by not telling her any of this and avoiding her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slowly leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close; he rested his head on her chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Amity,” he mumbled softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll ask again: was it that regrettable to you?” she demanded</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slowly raised his head to look her in the eye and shook his head no. He stood up from the bed and looked down at her, and moved his hand to cup her cheek softly. Moving his thumb in lazy circles, his eyes roamed across her face taking in her features before landing on her lips as he leaned impossibly close. He can’t. If he did this, he would be going against everything he was trying to push back against. And yet here he was, mere millimetres from kissing her, their breath fanning across one another’s face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I kiss you?” the words slipped from his lips before he could stop them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Sebastian,” she murmured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity leaned forward, closing the distance as their lips met for the first time.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘She is so soft,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity placed her hand on his chest and found his heart racing underneath her fingertips. He was softer and gentler with his kiss than she could have expected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian moved a hand to the back of her neck as he kissed her. He trailed his other hand down her arm, bringing it to rest on her hip before pulling her flush to his body. Their lips brushed softly over one another in a slow burning kiss. Her heart soared as they pulled away from each other, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Sebastian’s eyes roamed her body, until he reached her eyes. Her dark lidded gaze matched his own.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘There is no going back now, Sebastian,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought soberly.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Two steps forward, one step back.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's Amity's birthday, and a day for quality time with her father.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! Sorry it took a while to post this update. I had some troubles with figuring out how I wanted to word the chapter and how I wanted to move forward for the next few chapters after that so I took my time to work it out before I got something I was happy with. Big things are happening with our lovely little characters and I can't wait for you all to share in that!</p>
<p>This is my first big writing project and we are learning as we go. Please feel free to comment or leave feedback, if you're enjoying the story I would love to know! Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Amity and Sebastian re-joined their friends around the fire. Both sporting a bright red tinge on their faces. Their friends shot them appraising glances from their spots around the fire as the pair separated and sat down. Amity sat down next to Ruby and held her hands out towards the crackling heat of the fire. A pleasant warmth washed over her, protecting her from the cool bite of the cold air sweeping over from the lake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So how is it looking for graduation? Do any of you know what you’re going to do once you’re out in the real world?” Ezra questioned, “Personally I want to study photography, or anything in general in the creative field. I’m an artist at heart.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I’ve honestly thought about the potential of becoming a park ranger. I feel like perhaps I might take some time off after school, go exploring a bit with my parents. I want to know how to get by before I seriously look into that though. I’d like to be part of the next generation making sure we have natural spaces. I don’t know if it’s too simplistic, but at the same time I don’t really care,” Amity stated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honestly, no one else’s business to judge what you want to do either,” Ezra said while looking at her friend, “And the good part is you don’t really need to be an ace with your grades, or so I’ve heard.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Same with working a trade. Hard physical work for sure but I don’t exactly need grades to get into something like that, just a lot of training and practical work. Which works for me because fuck school. Only positive I’ve gotten from it is meeting Amity, and then you guys,” Kyle commented brightly from his spot across the fire.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Honestly, I’m planning to go straight back to school. I’ve been looking at applying to one of the colleges in the area for a bachelor in computer sciences. I don’t know where yet, I really don’t want to go too far away. I’m happy here,” Zain beamed, taking a sip of his drink.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been teaching Amity how to sign for almost a year now and I’ve honestly enjoyed it. I would probably want to do that. It’s something that people should know and I would be proud to teach it,” Ty signed quickly to the group. Amity smiled as she watched him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ty said he wants to teach people how to sign, that people should know how to communicate that way and he’d be proud to do that,” Amity smiled as she translated for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I want to go back to school as well. I’d like to become a veterinarian. I’ve always loved animals, I think I would do well with helping them and my grades seem to be fairly good, there isn’t exactly room for academic failure at home after all,” Ruby sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The group of friends then looked to the only person who so far had not said anything and keenly awaited his answer. They watched as he pressed his lips into a thin line as he stared into the fire before him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Truth be told I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve never really thought about it. It’s always been up in the air. I want to take some time to myself to spend with my family before I move forward with any career ideas. For the time being, I’ll probably just pick up odd jobs to pay the bills,” came Sebastian’s answer. “I don’t know whether I’ll be close or if I’ll be far.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t tell us you’re thinking of leaving, Sebastian?” Zain questioned his friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s up to him. People grow up, Zain, there is a reason they call it joining the real world. I’ve been living in it for a while now and I’ve had to say goodbye to a lot of people that meant the world to me,” Ezra stated plainly. “The world outside is scary, and people are kind of shitty. Enjoy right now, things are about to change for all of us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ezra has a point. We should be prepared or it’ll be too much of a shock to the system. Whether you branch out on your own or stay with your parents. Speaking of… Amity,” Kyle called to her. “How are you doing with your self-defence? Are you still practicing it?” he asked quickly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity simply nodded in his direction, not really knowing where this was going. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, prove it. I want to see your progress,” he demanded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kyle stood from his seat at the fire and walked around the outside slowly, eyeing her keenly as he moved. Their friends watched the exchange curiously. Amity stood up as he slowly moved closer. He stopped in front of her, on the other side of the log she was seated on. No one dared to move and Kyle’s eyes flicked to Sebastian’s for a brief moment. The man smirked. He obviously understood what was about to happen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kyle’s hands reached out and grabbed Amity by the front of her shirt and yanked her forward in one quick movement. She yelped as she stumbled and fell forward across the log to a chorus of cries and protests from their friends. Kyle pulled her upwards forcefully and wrapped an arm around her head quickly like he had seen Sebastian do before and began to squeeze her—hard. He could feel her rumbling beneath him as she growled while trying to pry his arm away with her hands. Amity suddenly twisted her body into his side and brought her hand in a closed fist on his groin. Letting out a loud yelp he let go and reeled back, freeing her instantly. But, she wasn’t done with him yet. Amity lunged forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. Trapping a leg between her own she braced and then heaved him off the ground in a show of strength, throwing him backwards over the top of her head and bringing him down to the dirt. She moved to straddle him and lightly pressed a hand around his throat as she sneered down at his dazed form.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you done?” she growled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dude nice!” he wheezed</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?” she looked down at him, her nose crinkled as confusion crossed her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That was fucking hot,” he grinned up at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once Amity had gotten off him, he limped back toward his place at the fire before stopping next to Sebastian, now the only one seated and not looking in the least bit concerned; rather, he had a smug look across his face. Kyle placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned down to whisper in his ear.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good job, look after her. She’s special.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity returned to Ruby’s side and sat down as she stared blankly at the man across the fire. The man cringed as he tried to find a comfortable angle to sit at as he wheezed, still winded from being tossed over Amity’s shoulder like a sack of flour.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So uh, what the fuck guys?” Zain shrieked as he looked between the two with wide eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanted her to show me her progress, and I didn’t want her to go easy on me. My body hurts right now but what can I say, I like the pain,” Kyle smirked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ty laughed loudly from across the fire as he sat back down. “Sick fuck,” he grinned as he spoke out loud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Was it really necessary though?” Ruby grumbled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, he’s actually got a point though Ruby. It’s good to test where you’re at so you know how to improve,” Sebastian spoke gently. “Amity has retained what I taught her. She’ll be ok.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Speaking of Amity,” Zain's voice drew her attention, “Why are you learning this stuff anyways? What about the other girls?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity remained quiet for a moment. Did she really want to open this can of worms, here and now? The only people here who didn’t know what happened were Ruby and Zain. The rest of them knew and understood. She wanted to have faith that they would understand her too and give some clarity on the vague things they had heard over the past few months.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t speak for the other girls because I don’t know their circumstances, but I was…” she paused as a lump formed in her throat, “... raped. Almost a year ago. I couldn’t fight back; I dissociated and couldn’t move.” Amity spoke between shaking breaths, “He cut me, he bruised me, he left me b-bloody and broken,” a grimace crossed her features as tears pricked at her eyes, “He made me feel like I was worth nothing.” Hot tears began to flow down her cheeks. “I can’t tell you how depressed it made me, I felt like my self-worth plummeted through the floor and like nothing would ever get better. But I had all these guys. They were there the night it happened,” She paused after gesturing to each of them around the fire to gauge their reaction. Amity palmed away the tears on her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Amity, I am so sorry, I never imagined this is what Kyle meant when he told me I had no idea,” Zain said softly as he cringed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ruby was dead silent, and almost seemed to be in shock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sebastian almost killed a man that night to protect me, and I had experienced pretty frequent flashbacks for a number of months.” Amity looked down at her arms momentarily and observed the faint scars from when she would scrub herself raw. “... and I still experience them occasionally now. I’m not entirely over it,” she said sadly. “Going to Ezra’s house is hard for me. That’s where it happened. M-my arms…they’re scarred from rubbing myself raw. I can’t get clean,” Amity sobbed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry, Amity. I don’t know what to say to comfort you, but if it makes you feel a bit more understood, I know it isn’t the same, but my father beats me at home…” Ruby ground out. Fear tightening her chest as she spoke no louder than a whisper. “Most of the time for no good reason. My own home is a constant source of hurt and stress for me… it’s hard to be there. I’m scared if I fight back, he’ll…he’ll kill me. I-I want to be strong. But I don’t want to die,” Ruby hiccupped as tears took place in her eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve been in Amity’s shoes myself. And every time it was someone I knew, it even happened in my own house on occasion. I remember the overwhelming fear I felt during these encounters. During at least one of them, I did have a friend to protect me but for the rest… I was on my own. I didn’t have a fight or flight instinct in these instances. I simply shut down, but I do applaud those who can protect themselves. I’m just not strong enough for that. I learned my own ways to cope and try to move on. But Amity, you were never alone in this,” Ezra reached over Ruby’s lap and put a hand on her knee. “You have had us since the start. And now, you have us too, Ruby. It’s easy for me to talk about these things because I’ve been dealing with abusive situations my whole life, and at this stage if I don’t talk I feel like I’m better off dead,” Ezra shrugged in a nonchalant manner. “That’s not to say it doesn’t hurt me, just that I’m used to it. I’m no therapist, but I won’t leave either of you alone if you need my help. You just tell me, ok?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A sad silence fell over the group as they soaked in the revelations put forward by the three friends. They had learned more in this one night than they ever expected too. The sound of sniffling rang in the air as they looked solemnly at one another.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that was quite heavy for a conversational point I must admit,” Amity mused, changing the subject abruptly. “On another note, I was supposed to talk to you all about going hunting tomorrow. Dad and I are going turkey hunting. Any of you want to join?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a chorus of ‘no thankyou’s around the fire. But when Amity looked to Ty he gave her a small smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll go hunting with you,” he signed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity slowly began to stir as she felt a weight pressed into her back. Moonlight streamed into the dark room through a crack in the dark thick curtains. As she slowly sat up on the bed and looked down to the sleeping form, she noticed Ruby seemed most at peace in her dreams. The small girl was curled around a soft pillow as she slept.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity stepped away from the bed and smoothed out her silk nightgown before slowly slinking away from the bedroom. Aside from the occasional snore and the sound of creaking floorboards under her feet the house was silent. She slipped out the backdoor and closed it softly before walking down to the shoreline of the lake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Lowering herself to the ground, she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them closer to her body as she looked at the scenery before her. Though the lake felt somewhat eerie at night, it was still beautiful. She listened to the water lapping against the stones, crickets chirping into the night, and across the lake played faint music from another cabin. Amity hoped the relative peace of the lake would be enough to push the bad dream she had awoken from to the deep recesses of her mind. She sat in quiet contemplation when she started getting the sensation of being watched.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Snap!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity’s head jerked in the direction of the sound and she squinted her eyes as she focused on the tree line along the water. A large form stalked out of the trees and stopped in her line of sight. The large muscular animal was covered in thick black fur and stared into her soul with two amber eyes. Her chest tightened in fear, as she slowly began to stand from her seated position. She had no way to protect herself out here on her own against a wolf, she should have known better than to venture out without something to at least protect herself. As she began to step backwards, the wolf began to stalk forward. A low growl came from the creature before her as she turned on her heel and ran. She could hear the animal's pace pick up as it loped after her. Fear pulsated through her body as she flew up the steps of the rear veranda, ripping open and slamming shut the sliding door after she slipped through.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her chest heaved as she sucked in deep breaths and attempted to calm her racing heart. She moved from the back door to the window above the kitchen sink and peered out of the sheer curtain. The wolf was back where it originally emerged from, it looked back over its shoulder toward the cabin before disappearing into the night.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After some time had passed staring through the window at the trees, Amity returned to her shared room with Ruby and she slipped back under the covers. Though she found no sleep. For hours, she laid in bed alternating from staring at the ceiling and chewing her fingernails. She didn’t think that anyone would believe that she had seen a wolf if she told them. It’s a decently populated area and they were typically avoidant of humans, why would one be so close?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity tossed and turned until morning light had crept above the trees. She was positively exhausted and was supposed to go hunting today. Not exactly the best of mixes. She kicked off the sheets and blankets, leaving the still sleeping form of Ruby, and dragged herself into the kitchen. She made herself useful and started on breakfast for herself, her father and Ty. Bacon, eggs, and toast would be simple enough to not fuck up. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sound of the food sizzling in the pan and the aroma of bacon and eggs cooking filled the space. Amity heard the floorboards creaking as two forms came into view and sat at the small table in the kitchen space.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good morning, Amity,” Ty signed to her as she looked at him..</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow kid, you look like shit. Did you not sleep last night?” her father questioned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks dad,” she dead panned, “I had a nightmare early in the morning, I couldn’t get back to sleep after that. I got maybe two whole hours of sleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not exactly ideal. We can sit out on hunting today if you think you want to go back to bed?” her father asked slowly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not really needed dad, I’m sure I’ll be fine, and I’ve been looking forward to this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, by the way, Amity, happy birthday darling.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That’s right, it was her birthday today. She had been so preoccupied that she hadn’t even had time to think much about it. She pulled the food off the stove and piled it onto plates and carried them to the dining table before setting them down in front of each of the men.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Happy birthday Amity!” Ty signed to her, a smile on his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you both for the birthday wishes, though truth be told I honestly did forget about it,” she said softly, before forking some of the food into her mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, before we go just make sure to duck in and see your mother ok?” her dad asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The trio continued to eat their breakfast and discussed the trails they would be best off taking to find the birds. After breakfast was finished, as quietly as they could, they began to prepare for the day ahead. They dressed into warm clothing and prepared the guns they had stored away in the shed a few days prior. Amity prepared a cup of coffee for her mother before they were set to head out and took it to her room to spend a moment with her before they set out on the trip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Placing the cup down on her mother’s side table, she gently shook the woman awake. With slow blinking eyes her mother looked up at her and smiled. Lifting an arm from under the covers, she cupped her daughter’s cheek and gave her a loving smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My little girl. Happy birthday my love,” her mother said softly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks, mom. I made you a cup of coffee. Dad is about to take us hunting, we’ll probably be gone for a couple of hours. Maybe until afternoon.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, lets hope you catch something so we can make a nice dinner with it then. Roasted turkey sounds delicious to me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure does mum. I’ll make sure to catch you a good one.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m proud of you, Amity Eden Laine,” her mother said with a loving gaze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity  turned on her heel and walked back out of the open door, closing it behind her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eden huh? Pretty middle name you’ve got there,” a voice commented.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She turned towards them as a blush creeped up her face. Sebastian was sitting comfortably in the armchair of the living room, dressed in sweatpants, completely shirtless. She couldn’t help but allow her eyes a momentary glance as she took in his muscular frame. She squeaked her embarrassment and ran from the cabin to meet her father and friend outside. Hearing Sebastian call a simple ‘Catch us something good!’ as she left the Cabin. The two men shot her a questioning look as she picked up her gun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s hunt,” she commanded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The trio made their way into the woods, their only source of light being their torches as they pressed forward. Leaf litter crunched under foot with each careful step as they hiked higher, the air around them cooling even more on the mountainside than down in the valley when it swept across the lake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once they reached what looked like an open expanse of land, Amity’s father left them to circle around and begin calling to any turkeys that might have been in the area. After that, it was somewhat of a waiting game that, if it yielded no results, they would need to turn back again and keep looking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity and Ty sat in silence and patiently waited for the older man to return to them from across the clearing. They sat and keenly waited, listening to the sounds of the woods around them. Amity heard the chirps of birds as they flitted through trees, the snap of twigs as small creatures scuttled around the forest floor, the leaves rustling as they blew over each other with every breeze. All while the night continually grew light around them with each moment of the rising sun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That was when they heard the distant sound of a turkey calling. The two teenagers looked to each other and grinned broadly with an airy almost inaudible laugh as they watched her father call out to it again </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I hear it! Can’t be too far away right?” Ty signed to them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t know, distance sound carries over can be deceiving. I guess we just must wait for dad and go from there,” Amity signed back to him quickly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Now, kids, when the turkey gets closer, I’ll call again. You need to wait for it to cross into the clearing before you take your shot, these aren’t long range guns,” he whispered as he moved to help Amity adjust herself into a good stance from a sitting position to make the kill.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>True to his word, he could hear the turkey getting closer and rustle the leaves on the forest floor as he called again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Amity calmed the excitement in her heart and watched the tree line attentively as a large bird made its appearance in the bushes. She watched her father carefully from her peripheral vision as he signalled for her to wait while staring the bird down. It stepped further into the clearing and scratched around as it called, while she could see her father carefully readjusting her position before leaning away and mouthing ‘now!’ and on her exhale, she took the shot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The loud bang rang out through the woods as a thud was heard a short distance in front of her. She grinned as she looked between her father and her friend, sporting an ecstatic smile across her face. She needed help to do it, but she was proud that she would be in part responsible for putting food on the table. She felt accomplished. Amity was no natural, but a baser instinct told her this was right, this was natural.</span>
  <span></span>
    <br/>
  
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>At around midday, the trio had headed back down the mountainside to the cabin. Amity didn’t have any further luck with killing a bird, but with her fathers help, Ty had brought down two. It seemed while Amity was not a natural at hunting, Ty was quite good. Though she was opting to blame it on her lack of sleep, she recognised she wasn’t all around particularly good. He still needed guidance, but he was better at reading the environment than she was, and his timing and aim was better.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ty threw his gaze over his shoulder, smiling brightly to Amity. He radiated happiness, it was an unusual expression on his normally soft and shy face. She found it brought her great joy to see him so simply happy. She widened her stride and closed the distance between them, a laugh spilling from her lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You did great today man! Are you happy?” she signed enthusiastically.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t need to speak, rather simply nod his response with a beaming smile to indicate that this was in fact the case. She’d had an incredible amount of fun during the earlier start to the day and she hoped one day she could come back and do this in a different season with Ty, perhaps when they were a little bit better </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As they approached the house, neither one of them could help excitedly calling for their friends as Robert trailed after them, chuckling at their excitement. The occupants of the cabin filed out one by one to see what the commotion was, and after a moment they met the smiles of their friends with smiles and whoops of excitement of their own.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Much to Amity and Ty’s dismay, they found themselves dragged into a miniature lesson on how to properly prepare their food ahead of time. One of the steps was the gutting and the rinsing of the bird. Amity gagged the whole way through the process, but while Ty was disgusted, he was far less affected. It was not his first time doing this, but practice of existing skills wasn’t really a bad thing. Amity and Ty sliced underneath the jaw of the bird along the jugular, and then hung the bird’s upside down above buckets; to assist in draining them without making too significant a mess.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As they walked back into the cabin, they groaned in the realisation that they were both drenched in blood. They were exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but that wasn’t allowed to come just yet. Amity shooed off Ty to the bathroom as she went back outside and waited. She dropped her head as she tiredly observed the lake from the safety of her porch. It was warmer in the middle of the day, but the bite of cooler weather was still in the air. Amity heard the sliding door open and shut behind her and a calming presence move behind her. She took a glance over her shoulder and saw that it was Ezra, smiling at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d hug you and wish you happy birthday but… you are covered in blood right now,” Ezra laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That happens when you’re elbows deep in turkey guts. Very unpleasant business,” Amity deadpanned, before quiet laughter erupted between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So, I know you probably don’t know about this because you’ve been up the mountain, but how do you feel about a party tonight? Jurden swung me a message earlier. Not much of a camping man but he does know when the parties are happening and said he wouldn’t want to miss your birthday for anything.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t that be hijacking someone else’s party in my favour?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It doesn’t have to be. Just our friends group having a silent celebration where there is a bit of extra fun. Alternatively, we can stay here, it’s been fun just spending these nights with everyone. It’s ok to not go, plus it’s your birthday so it’s your choice,” Ezra said with a smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know…it might not be that bad. If everyone else is in agreeance and you can get the parents in on it, I won’t say no. It doesn’t hurt to have fun. I get to learn that I can do this again.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ezra smiled brightly as she walked away from the blood drenched woman to talk to both Amity’s parents, and to all of the friends.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Familiar Faces.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity's birthday celebrations devolve into something more sinister, and she loses herself in a way she doesn't even know possible.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>edit 19/03/21: Hey lads some personal problems come up between the writing and editing of chapters, there are three written chapters currently awaiting editing and I'm still writing another. Life happens, but we can't wait to show you what we created!</p><p>Hi guys! Bet you weren't expecting a double update! I had some troubles with figuring out how I wanted to word this chapter and the previous chapter and how I wanted to move forward for the next few chapters after that so I took my time to work it out before I got something I was happy with. Big things are happening with our lovely little characters and I can't wait for you all to share in that! The next chapter is already halfway to completion and carries a lot of emotion. I hope to see you there!</p><p>This is my first big writing project and we are learning as we go. Please feel free to comment or leave feedback, if you're enjoying the story I would love to know! Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Naturally, Amity’s parents were cautious when the teenagers brought up the prospect of going to a party that wasn’t solely a small gathering amongst themselves—especially after what had happened to their daughter the first time she had gone to a party. They of course wanted to set some rules if they were going to agree to let them go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity had to agree to never leaving her friend group alone and make use of a buddy system. They had to stay together, or it was not even in the realm of possibility. It wasn’t something they found being an unfair request however, because none of them wanted a repeat of that traumatic incident many months ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they all got ready to head out, Ezra sent off a text to Jurden to let him know they would be coming along. Since it was the woods, none of them really planned to dress up and instead wore simple, casual attire. Amity pulled a pair of black jeans up over her legs and smoothed the wrinkles out of her sweater. She left her room to join her friends who were all in the process of pulling on their shoes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, everyone ready? Jurden is already there waiting for us,” Ezra stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a chorus of ‘yes’s amongst the friends as they started to head toward the door. Zain and Sebastian each picked up a side of the cooler and the girls each slung two collapsible camping chairs over their backs and carried it as they walked along the lake side. Even from all the way over here they could hear the music playing from the cabin that would be their destination. While it might have seemed quiet from this distance, Amity had no doubts when they arrived, it would be difficult to hear even her own thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they reached the cabin, the men immediately started looking for a safe spot to claim for themselves and the women of their group. Sebastian was determined to keep his promise to Amity’s parent’s not just for her sake, but for all of them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They settled for a space on the large porch, it allowed for a good view of everyone coming and while the music was still loud, they could hear each other a little bit better out here. Sebastian and Zain set down the cooler, and Amity and Ruby set to unfolding the camping chairs while Ezra and Kyle set out to find where Jurden might be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, guys I don’t think we have enough chairs for everyone.” Ruby commented.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh, you know I think you’re right. Some of us might need to share or we just take turns,” Ty signed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ty said we share or take turns,” Amity translated as she pulled a drink out of the cooler.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the mention of this, Ruby had a sly grin come to rest on her face as she looked to Zain and then back to the chairs. The man only just sat down in his own chair when she sauntered over to him and sat herself in his lap. The effect was immediate, blush creeping up his cheeks as he looked at Ruby with a bewildered look on his face and began to stutter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ty did say we should share or take turns, you don’t mind right?” Ruby asked the flustered man sweetly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“N-no I don’t mind,” he stammered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Have to give it to you Ruby, you’re bold,” Sebastian chuckled as he found his own seat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity grinned broadly as she found a seat for herself and couldn’t help but laugh at the antics of her friends. Perhaps Ruby wasn’t as shy as she once thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ezra and Kyle made their return to the group with Jurden in tow. Kyle threw himself down on Amity’s lap, wrapping his arms around her neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Damn hard work doing nothing!” Kyle sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and you’d know all about that Kyle?” Amity jibed while poking at his ribs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man simply laughed as he curled up in her lap, basking in her presence. Amity would say he was almost cat-like, but he enjoyed affection a little bit more than a cat would from her. She was just his person and it would always be that way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity watched her friends joking amongst each other quietly while sipping slowly at her whisky and cola. In a sense, it felt good to finally be out doing something social again, but she would be lying to herself if she said she was completely comfortable in this setting. She caught herself more than once observing her surroundings and the strange people occupying them, she had been watching for threats without even realising it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity startled as she felt a hand come to rest on her arm, before looking to the owner of the hand in question. Sebastian was giving her a soft and reassuring smile, sensing her discomfort. She looked at the water in his freehand and realised he was staying sober for their friends should he be needed. That helped to ease her mind, and Amity allowed herself to lower her guard and attempted to enjoy the company of her friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity found herself drinking a little faster, laughing more with her friends and bonding a little more with Ruby and Ezra over their collective love of animals—while their friend Jurden flitted around the party like the social butterfly that he was, occasionally returning to them to talk, hit on Sebastian, or in one particular instance shouted a demand for the friends to ‘come shake some ass thotties!’. Which of course they did, no matter how badly. None of them could really match up to the man while he danced away with a smile on his face. Smiles like his are perhaps what made every little thing worth it. Seeing someone in a state of unbridled joy and happiness was rare, but the little moments were everything in the end. Amity found a smile plastered on her face as she danced alongside the man on the porch, she could get used to this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity danced away the night, and while she had been unsuccessful in pulling Sebastian into their mess of bodies, he still wore a pleasant smile like he was having a good time. Amity sat down rather roughly on his lap as he let out a grunt. It wasn’t exactly comfortable for him when she was rough in her actions. He tilted his hips up and out, leaning further back into his chair to make more room for her and give her space.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you having a good time Sebastian?” Amity asked as she looked up at his face with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am, watching you guys is plenty of fun. You don’t have to worry about me,” Sebastian said softly before reaching out to smooth out her now frizzed up hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure? I know we probably could have done this back at the cabin, but this is still nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m positive. It’s not a bad thing to try ease back into social settings, we just have to take our time. It’s perfectly ok, there’s no need to rush anything and I’m happy to watch everyone. We’re like a dysfunctional family, we have to stick together.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You really don’t feel like you’re missing out right now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could I, my friends are having fun and I have a beautiful woman on my lap. Trust me, my little Eden, I couldn’t be better.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A furious blush washed over Amity’s face as she grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and buried her face in the crook of his neck. The deep rumble of his laugh at her embarrassed state shook her body.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eden? Why would you call me by that?” Amity mumbled against his neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I heard your mother call you by that name and I thought it was very fitting. You are like my own personal Eden and I’m not embarrassed to admit that,” Sebastian spoke softly, kissing the top of her head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, that’s not quite fair is it? I don’t have a nickname for you yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll find the right one in time. But I quite like this name for you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At the sound of approaching footsteps Amity pulled herself away from the warmth of his embrace to see Ruby approach. She beamed up at her friend and carefully removed herself from Sebastian’s embrace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I really need the bathroom, so does Ty. I thought we’d all go together?” Ruby asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, sounds good. It’ll be a bit too busy inside the house though,” Amity said nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about the public toilets? They won’t be so busy, they’re not too far from here either. Maybe a couple hundred metres?” Ty signed after approaching the women.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sound’s good, ok let’s go!” Amity smiled as she relayed the message to Ruby.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity gave Sebastian a small wave as they stepped down from the porch and began to make their way to the public bathrooms. Upon exiting the toilet block with Ruby, Amity felt as if she was being watched. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she unconsciously stepped in front of Ruby and subtly moved her backwards as she peered out into the darkness and searched for the cause as she felt her fear spike. Her body vibrated with fear as she covered Ruby’s body with her own. She was barely aware that Ty had re-joined them and immediately the man knew something was wrong with her. He shared a pointed look with Ruby who pulled out her phone and made a call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sebastian, something is wrong with Amity. Possibly PTSD,” Ruby muttered softly as she gave directions to where they were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ty was trying to sign to Amity and get through to her, but he wasn’t getting through. There was an approach of footsteps that Ty had assumed to be Sebastian, and yet when he turned around, he felt his own fear rising. There in front of him with a wicked grin on his face amongst 4 other men, was Eli.</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span>
  <span>The tall man slowly walked in their direction, seemingly enjoying the fear rising in the woman before him every time he took a step. His wicked smile just grew broader the closer he came. He rolled his head from left to right while looking at his friends before refocusing on Amity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looky what we have here boys,” Eli sneered. “Looks like the useless bitch’s boyfriend isn’t here tonight. Shall we have some fun?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You better share Eli, look at her and that little girl behind her. I want a piece,” one of the men snickered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their presence was terrifying, and despite Amity having pressed Ruby against the wall, her fight or flight once again failed her in a highly dangerous situation. She was completely frozen in fear. Eli lunged forward and gripped Amity by the hair, ripping her away from Ruby and clamping a hand over her mouth as she processed this was really happening. She let out a muffled scream as the other man grabbed at Ruby at the same time and dragged her after Eli.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ty screamed as the women were dragged away from him and the attention of the remaining three men turned to him. He felt the desperation rise in his chest. His desire to sit back and keep himself safe was increasing, but he would never forgive himself if he did nothing and he knew it. He dug into his pocket and pulled out his switchblade, flicking the blade out of its protected position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, what’s this? The little man has a toy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not going to do anything with that, you’re outnumbered.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Give it up kid.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The giggles and hollers of the men caused something inside him to snap, and Ty roared as he lunged forward. He swung his blade wildly at the closest man. One word repeated in his head repeatedly. Survive. Survive. Survive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian’s heart raced as he and Kyle made their way toward the bathroom block Ruby instructed them to find. Sebastian had quietly informed Kyle that Amity was having an attack and they slipped away from the other members of the group to go seek the trio out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The men picked up their pace and sprinted after they were out of sight, and upon approaching where the three friends were supposed to be, they were met with the sounds of an almost feral roar, followed by the sight of Ty swinging around a small blade, and no signs of the women. A snarl erupted from Sebastian’s chest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without thinking, the large male grabbed one of Ty’s assailants by the head and ripped it sideways in a singular fast motion. A sickening snap could be heard as the body dropped to the ground and another scream filled the air as Ty’s blade sliced across one of the men’s eyes. The final man, Kyle had caught in a headlock. Silent tears flowed down Kyle’s face as he restricted the man’s airflow. Sebastian could tell this was hard for him. But they just wanted to protect each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are they?” Sebastian snarled at the trapped man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The terrified man lifted his arm and pointed to the forest behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>‘I’m coming, please be safe,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought as he gazed where the man’s finger was pointing. With a quick movement, Sebastian pulled back his arm before pushing all his weight forward. His fist connected with bone and cartilage, crunching beneath the impact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle released the man and he dropped limply to the ground. The pathetic creature had pissed himself from the fright. He watched Sebastian’s murderous form pick up the body of the man he had killed and proceed to drag the other in the direction the unconscious man had pointed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Help me with this piece of shit, Ty,” Kyle spat, as he put one arm over his shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ty fit himself up under the other arm and they lifted and dragged the man in the direction that Sebastian had walked, hoping the women would be ok.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A groan could be heard following the whoosh of air as a boot collided with a stomach. Tears poured from Amity’s wide eyes down the sides of her pale face as her rage began to build. Eli was behind her, a hand clasped around her throat with his fingers clenched tightly in her white hair keeping her head up, forcing her to watch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She’s going to get what you did, tenfold. And just for your little boyfriend beating me, she gets it too,” Eli spat.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please stop, why are you doing this to us!” Amity begged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Because I can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The brief conversation muffled the sounds of approaching footsteps, and the drag of bodies. Amity cried for Ruby as she was kicked repeatedly. The young woman was now laying in a pool of her own vomit on the forest floor. Her own puffy red eyes blew wide as shock overtook her system. A pair of hands and a glint of metal came from the shadows from behind Ruby’s attacker, and without a single moment of hesitation and in one fluid motion, the blade sliced across pale white skin, as if parting it for the sea of red now flowing down his neck as he gurgled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the man stopped his assault on Ruby to bring his hand to his neck in an attempt to slow the flow of blood, he dropped to the ground. Those hands that just killed the man in front of her belonged to Ty. His chest heaved, sucking in breaths as he began to panic. He looked down at the dying man and then to Ruby who had been beaten into unconsciousness. He lowered himself and carefully sat the woman up, moving her out of the puddle of vomit. He cradled the woman’s head so it wouldn’t loll in her limp state. He looked up at Eli’s shocked face and held the small blade out in front of him as he sneered, almost as if daring him to come any closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity’s eyes squeezed shut in effort to prevent herself from looking as she heard loud thuds around her and a cry of protest as the pressure of Eli was removed from her body. Slowly blinking her eyes open, she was met with the blank stare of a man’s eyes in a head that was twisted too far to be natural, a man who had catastrophic injuries to his eyes, and a man with a bloodied nose with a wet patch on the front of his pants. She’d never seen a dead human body before and right now it scared her half to death and made her chest swell with love, knowing this was what their friends would do for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She slowly rose to her feet and turned to meet the eyes of Sebastian who had Eli in a tight headlock. An inhuman growl rumbled from his chest as he squeezed Eli tighter while the man struggled. He wanted so badly to kill Eli and protect her, shield her from the dangers of the world and lock her away forever so that this could never happen again. But it would make him no better than the man choking beneath him. Suddenly, he released his grip and Eli’s knees collided with the forest floor while a hand came up to rub at his aching throat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck Harland?” Eli cried out between breaths, shifting to look Sebastian in the eye, “What are you jealous because I fucked your bitch first? Are you going to kill me just like you killed them, you fucking monster!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian roared as he lurched forward and punched the smaller man’s jaw, forcing his head to whip to the side as he collapsed in a shuddering heap. Sebastian slowly watched the man get back up to his feet, eyes flicking up to meet Amity’s face as she sneered down at the man. Her body was shaking with pure unbridled rage. Her fists clenched and unclenched, and that’s when Sebastian noticed the subtle changes. The lengthened nails, her eyes, </span>
  <em>
    <span>her fangs</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It confirmed his previous suspicions about her. He didn’t want to believe it at first and didn’t know how it was possible for her to be here. But he recognised the look on her face. This was a decision she needed to make on her own, and he was going to give her a choice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to kill you,” Sebastian spoke loudly gesturing to the woman before them, “She’ll do it herself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity couldn’t take her eyes off the pathetic creature standing before her. There was a voice screaming inside her head, it felt unclear what it was saying at first, but as rage poured over her the chants became ever clearer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kill him! Amity! Don’t let that pathetic creature live! Kill them all!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something inside of her snapped as rage poured over her. The pain that overtook her body was white hot and blinding, bones creaking, popping, snapping, and changing shape. In the place of the pale woman was a large white wolf. The pathetic man screamed in horror as she lunged. He was quick work for her. Her teeth sunk into his body, his bones cracking under the pressure of her powerful jaws. She lifted his body off the ground and began shaking her head from side to side. The damage to the man was now irreparable. With a toss of her head, she slammed his now motionless and quiet form against the ground before releasing him. The she-wolf didn’t stop at him. She made quick work of beheading the other two living men before turning towards the other humans in her space. She snarled as she looked at them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ty, take Ruby and get back. You too Kyle, she’s feral right now,” Sebastian commanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But what about you—she could kill you too! You have to run!” Kyle cried out in fear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She won’t hurt me. I need you to trust me, don’t run but get back. If you run, she’ll just chase you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle slowly nodded as he backed up, eye’s never leaving the large wolf in front of him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘This can’t be real right now. It’s just not possible,’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. But clearly it was, because here she was right in front of him. Would she ever come back to him? Would she ever be the same again? Tears pricked at his eyes as he considered that he might lose his best friend. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Did she know this whole time?’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought as he watched Sebastian approach the wild animal carefully, not a single trace of fear appeared to hang from his body.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Aftermath</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Amity and her friends faced an old enemy, and now they're faced with the aftermath.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! I have multiple chapters to post this weekend that have now been edited! Thank you for your patience during this time. Enjoy some fluffy and less fluffy moments, the reason it took a while to get a chapter out, is basically because life simply happens. We're just about to come to a close in the first part of the story, but there is still so much more to come! I look forward to showing you all what we have been up to!</p><p>This is my first big writing project and we are learning as we go. Please feel free to comment or leave feedback, if you're enjoying the story I would love to know! Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rage. She felt so much rage. It coursed through her body like the blood that pumped through her veins. Blurred figures were around her, moving slowly as she growled. One didn’t move at all and instead moved slowly towards her. She flashed her teeth as the creature came closer, she snarled out a warning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come no closer!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it wasn’t listening. It made soft sounds in an attempt to soothe her, but she wasn’t going to fall for that. All she felt was rage, and rising fear. She didn’t know where she was or what was happening. Why couldn’t she see right? Why did her whole body hurt so badly and why was it so hard to stay standing without stumbling? Amity’s body coiled tightly as she prepared to lunge at him—but she stumbled as she hesitated. For just a singular moment. That was all it took, just that one moment and the creature was on her with its arms wrapped around her neck, squeezing hard. It was whispering barely intelligible things in her sensitive ears as she roared in protest and thrashed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The longer the creature held a crushing grip around her throat, the more lightheaded and dizzy she became. The softer her protests were, the more subdued she became. Finally, the she-wolf collapsed to the ground and closed her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian was on his hands and knees next to the wolf sucking in deep breaths as he watched Amity’s form slowly revert. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Her clothes are completely destroyed,’</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thought. Sebastian quickly sat back on his knees and shrugged off the oversized jacket he was wearing and manoeuvred it over Amity’s changing form.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Crimson red splattered over the woman’s pale skin and white hair. Sebastian hated that anything had to come to this. Gently, he scooped Amity into his arms and moved her away from the bodies and back towards her friends. Placing her down on the ground gently, he ensured she was covered with the jacket fully before looking to the two men solemnly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to go get my car. We can’t carry the girls all the way back to the house plus all the stuff we came with, with just our hands,” Sebastian grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll come,” Ty stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, give Kyle your knife. Kyle you can stay, we won’t be long.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian straightened and began to jog back towards their own cabin as Ty trailed slowly behind him. They were quicker moving than the earlier trip to the party and fast approached their temporary home. Sebastian noted that the lights were off in the house and made a careful effort to not be overly loud as he slid open the back door and headed to Amity and Ruby’s bedroom. Their suitcases were on opposite sides of the room, the first he checked wasn’t labelled but the other was. The other belonged to Amity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Flipping back the lid of the suitcase, Sebastian began to sift through it, finding a mis-match of clothing he thought might be appropriate sleepwear. He carried the clothing into the bathroom and placed them on the counter while he drew hot water for a bath. Heading back into the girls’ room, he collected everything that looked like it belonged to Ruby and shoved it roughly into her suitcase before carrying it out to his car. He popped the boot open and put Ruby’s case in as he noticed Ty approaching with something in his hands. Carefully closing the boot, he cast a curious glance at Ty. The man had removed his turkeys from the hooks they were hanging from, and had dropped them on the ground next to the car, and shifted the buckets of blood as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you plan to do with that Ty? You’re going to have to speak. I don’t understand sign like Amity does,” he whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ty nodded slowly, opening and closing his mouth a few times in hesitation. “We need to do something about the bodies, and their blood. We can cover them in the turkeys and the blood. It’ll help, I think,” Ty offered quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a half bad idea. Might need something a bit bigger than a turkey for 5 bodies though. Go back in the house and get the plastic wrap, wrap the tops of the buckets. I’d like to avoid this shit spilling in my car if possible. Grab a shovel from the shed too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a nod, Ty quickly walked back inside to get what he requested. Laying the dead animals on the leather of the backseat made him cringe, but it was necessary. They wedged the buckets behind the driver and passenger seats before turning on the ignition and heading back to the women and Kyle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian was careful not to drive too fast to avoid drawing unwanted attention to them as they set to work. They could still hear the music pumping from the cabin, all the way out here. </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘That’s somewhat of a relief,</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Sebastian thought. The likelihood of anyone hearing all the screaming and getting it confused with the rowdy teenagers partying in the woods was very high.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle had found a good even spot and began digging with the shovel while Ty was, for some reason, collecting all of the leaf matter from the ground in the immediate area. He just kept piling up leaves. Sebastian quirked an eyebrow at the strange man before clearing his throat to gain their attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You two keep doing what you’re doing, I’ll be back. We need a bigger animal than the turkeys. I won’t be long,” he stated, as he walked into the darkness of the woods. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>                                                                                                                                          ○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle was halfway through digging the hole when Sebastian had returned to them. Kyle flicked his eyes up at the shadow looming over him and squealed as he fell back on his rear and swung the shovel up, pointing it at the large chocolate brown wolf looking down at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“T-Ty!” Kyle squeaked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The small man looked in the direction of Kyle’s voice and saw what caused the fuss. He stiffened a little with undeniable fear. The beast was huge. It was bigger than Amity and covered in a mess of thick chocolate brown fur. The animal looked at him briefly and then it looked back down again. Ty followed its line of sight and noted the large buck dead at the creature's paws.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sebastian?” he croaked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The animal nodded once and looked back to Kyle who was still very visibly on edge, and hadn’t yet lowered his shovel.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you going to hurt us?” Kyle asked quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian whined in frustration and flopped down on his side, laying his head on his paws.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, well you owe us an explanation when this is done.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian quickly stood back up before jumping down into the ditch with Kyle. The man was uneasy at the presence of the wolf but didn’t say another word as Sebastian helped dig the hole wider and deeper. With the two of them working at it, it took them no time at all. Sebastian didn’t have a way to communicate that they were done digging. So he decided to just grab Kyle by the back of his hoodie and drag him as he jumped back up and out of the hole.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jesus fuck Sebastian! Don’t scare me like that!” Kyle groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I suppose that’s our cue to fill the hole then,” Ty said with a grimace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian watched as Ty picked up one of the three buckets and began splashing the contents around the insides of the hole, soaking the earth with blood. As he continued to pour the blood, Sebastian picked up the remains, one after another, and tossed them in the hole. The hole was deep enough to allow for a decently thick layer of soil covering. Kyle tossed the turkey carcasses into the hole as Ty recommenced his task. As he did this, Sebastian dragged the deer into the hole by the neck before moving to its soft stomach. Sebastian could hear Kyle gagging as he ripped open the deer’s stomach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wished that neither of the men had to see this or participate in this. But this was what they needed to do now to protect themselves. The blood of the deer mixed with the turkeys. That scent should be strong enough to cover the smell of human decay surely. He climbed out of the hole and helped Kyle fill in the rest with dirt—before walking back to the darkness of the forest to shift back into a man while Ty finished covering up the dig site.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man returned to them fully dressed. The dark space was lit up by an orange hue spewing from the three metal buckets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing there guys?” Sebastian asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Ty is burning the leaves that might have gotten blood on them. He said we should destroy any possible evidence left behind,” Kyle said softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Smart move Ty, I wouldn’t have considered that,” Sebastian praised the small man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A soft groan was heard falling from Amity’s lips as she stirred from her unconsciousness. The men turned their attention to her as she gripped her pounding head and sat herself upright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck happened, why does my head hurt so much?” she groaned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>                                                                                                                                            ○☾✩☪✩☽○</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle had to admit he wasn’t incredibly pleased with Sebastian or Ty for opting to not tell Amity what had happened, and even more perplexed as to how she just didn’t remember. He sat in the backseat holding her close to him as they started driving back towards the house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He helped guide the tired girl inside and took her straight to the bathroom. She was still entirely soaked in blood from the day’s events, and now that it was drying it was going to be a little harder to remove. Kyle noted Amity’s change of clothes on the countertop and closed the door behind them. Walking over to the shower, he turned tap handles until the spray of the water was warm against his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle pulled the jacket from Amity’s shoulders and guided her bare form toward the shower and helped her sit down under the spray. It was clear that whatever transformation had occurred had hurt her body. She was littered with bruises and he knew that she wasn’t as badly roughed up as Ruby was. Kyle began to undress himself. A pile of his clothes sat messily on the floor and his binder on the bathroom sink away from the reach of water on the tiled floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kyle stepped in behind Amity and took the shower head from the wall before bringing it down to her hair. The woman’s dazed eyes stared straight forward as he went through his usual motions with her. It made him think back to the first time he did this for her, and every other time thereafter. Times when she couldn’t shower because she was that far out of her mind, and times when she couldn’t get clean so he would have to stop her from washing herself too roughly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He swore he could feel his heart break for her all over again. She faced the man who ruined her life and marred her body with his touch. She killed the man who took her power away from her, claimed her like an object, and while he felt sick replaying the image in his head repeatedly of her ripping him to pieces, he felt it was the justice she deserved but was never given. The police clearly didn’t do their job, or Eli got let off lightly to be back in society again within a year of the original offence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Kyle massaged the conditioner into her scalp, he hoped as wrong as it was that perhaps she would completely forget about this night. She had already been through enough. When would the universe decide enough was enough?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What happened tonight?” Amity questioned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s the last thing you remember?” Kyle countered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, I remember… that man. I-I remember being so angry,” she stuttered, “He made me watch as that monster… beat Ruby.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s in essence what happened. You must have blacked out, but you fought back. You protected yourself, you fought for Ruby. We were there to help you. Nothing else happened to you, they won’t hurt you again I promise,” he spat with anger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn’t like lying to her, but in this instance, it really was for her own good if she didn’t remember—perhaps she didn’t need to know. She had deniability that way. Kyle handed a bar of soap down to her and watched her move it lightly over her skin. She wasn’t harming herself yet, that was something at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you Kyle, you’ve never stopped caring about me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every step Amity took radiated pain from her head to the tips of her toes. Kyle had offered himself up as a crutch as they limped back towards her bedroom. In the time it took for Kyle to help clean her and then himself, Sebastian had already gone to pick up everyone else and the things they left behind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity spared a brief glance at Ezra who was lying face down maniacally giggling as she looked off into space. They were exceptionally drunk. Her smile came in the form of a grimace before she stepped inside her room and they closed the door behind them. Amity crawled onto the bed and carefully laid herself down next to Ruby who was beginning to wake up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their bedroom door opened as Sebastian walked in, Zain trailing behind. Zain hyper focused on Ruby’s black and blue form. The man sobered as he quickly moved to the bedside and knelt. Amity watched silently as Zain carefully brushed stray hairs from the delicate purple skin on Ruby’s face. His eyes flicked up to meet Amity’s gaze with a dangerous glare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How did this happen,” Zain demanded. He watched silently as she floundered for a moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ty, Amity and Ruby went to the bathroom as you know, and they unfortunately got cornered by Eli and his pack of mutts,” Sebastian growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zain’s head snapped in Sebastian’s direction, registering what he just said before he turned back to Amity. “Why the fuck didn’t you do anything about this Amity! Look at the state of Ruby! Did you forget all of what Seb taught you?” he ground out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amity hung her head in shame as fresh tears spilled over her cheeks. Kyle started to protest when Sebastian rested a hand on the shaking man's shoulder and stopped him, before interjecting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Zain that’s enough. She did more than enough and none of those men will ever hurt them again, this has been hard on them both. How would you have reacted in that situation? I can tell you now: you don’t know the answer to that question. I know you’re worried about Ruby, but don’t be. She is going to be ok, I promise. Please calm down, you’re scaring Amity,” Sebastian demanded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zain grumbled at Sebastian’s demands but found himself complying with them all the same. He gently stroked Ruby’s hair, while Amity pressed herself even closer to her side as she cried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A small groan fell from the smaller woman’s lips, followed by small gasps. Ruby’s eyes had fluttered open and it was apparent to Sebastian—who judged by her reaction—that the pain was being caused by a little more than mere bruising. Stepping towards the bed, he crouched next to the bedside and gently placed a hand over Ruby’s ribs on either side of her body and lightly pressed down. He grimaced as she cried out in pain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry Ruby, I don’t mean to hurt you I’m just assessing the damage. I think you have broken ribs. You’re going to need medical attention,” Sebastian said softly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no doctors. Please. I can’t go to a hospital. It’ll be worse for me at home if I go to a hospital,” Ruby wheezed, clutching at her ribs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well how about this: I take you back down the mountain right now, I’ll take you to my mother. She has some basic medical supplies at home that can help you recover. She’s a doctor and she will be discrete. How does that sound?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t need to do this for me Sebastian, I’ve lived through this before. Trust me, I’ll be ok.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“W-what? Ruby you’ll be lucky if you don’t have internal bleeding. You’re not ok.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve had worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian threw back his head and growled in irritation before giving Zain an exasperated and pointed look. The other man looked to the floor and sighed deeply before meeting Ruby’s eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ruby, please. You say you’ve had worse, but you shouldn’t have gone through anything like this at all in the first place. Please, take Sebastian’s offer,” Zain asked gently, “It would mean a great deal to me if you did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok… ok for you I will,” Ruby groaned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right well, someone has to tell Mr and Mrs Laine what happened,” Kyle began with a sigh, “You can leave that to me, Sebastian. I’ll cover. I don’t think they should know Amity saw Eli again. She was doing well with her recovery and now look at her. I want Amity to be seen too by your mother as well, that’s my condition.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two men watched as Kyle turned on his heel and left. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Sebastian looked around the room, eyes landing back on Amity’s suitcase. He picked it up and placed it on the bed before moving around the room and collecting her belongings. If he was taking her too, he had no intention of bringing her back up here. He hoped that whatever Kyle’s excuse was going to be, that it was good. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Right, I’m going to put Amity’s things in the trunk. I want you to move Ruby to the car, Zain. You can come with us if Ruby wants you to,” he stated before walking to Amity’s side, helping to lead her from the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zain looked down at Ruby’s broken form and frowned deeply. She was such a sweet and kind-hearted person, and someone sought to take advantage of that. He didn’t think in all his eighteen years that he had ever seen someone so badly hurt before. Deep purple bruises and small cuts littered her skin, one of her eyes was swollen shut and both of her lips were split—all this on top of the potentially broken ribs. He hoped above all, that there was no internal bleeding. Zain was terrified to touch her in this state but if he didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to get the help that she needed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slipped his arms underneath her legs and back and picked her up. She hissed and cried out in protest, the pain radiating throughout her body. He cringed as he left the bedroom and walked through the cabin to the back door towards the car. He noted that the trunk was still open as he set Ruby on her feet and helped her climb into the car, before climbing in after her and closing the door. Carefully, he strapped them both in and laid Ruby’s head down on his lap so that she could try and rest. Running his fingers through her hair, he looked toward the front seat to watch Amity. The woman was rigid, staring blankly into space. It was like someone had left the light on, but nobody was home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian returned to the car with his and Zain’s bags and belongings, placing them in the trunk and shutting it. Sebastian opened the drivers side door quickly before getting in. As he was about to turn the ignition he noticed two forms were approaching the car—Ty and Kyle. Ty looked like he was just fresh out of the shower.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There was some bleach in the laundry, I scrubbed the shower,” Ty muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Very good, the last thing we need is that shower being stained. How did you go with the parents, Kyle?” Sebastian asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“They’re concerned for Ruby but encouraged for you to go get her seen too. I told them… I told them that the girls and Ty decided it would be a great idea to run around in the forest at night, and that Ruby fell down into a gully and broke her ribs and has bad bruising. I told them you guys wanted to take her to hospital and depending on whether it’s bad or not, that you might not come back up the mountain,” Kyle informed him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for telling them that. The less questions they have to ask the better. I’m sure Amity doesn’t want to think about it more than necessary. How about the rest of you?” Sebastian grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ty, myself, and Ezra will be staying here until the vacation is over, there will be room for us in the car on the way home so you don’t need to come back for anything if you need to stay down there. Alright, time for you to go. Text us, look after my girl,” Kyle said as he and Ty gave a pointed look to the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sebastian flicked on the headlights, put the car into reverse and backed away from the cabin and onto the little dirt road. He put it back in drive and pressed on the accelerator. The illuminated scenery began to move a little quicker around them as the car travelled down the mountain and back onto a paved road.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The trip down the mountain was mostly silent, aside from the occasional soft cry that spilled from Ruby’s mouth when the car jostled after moving over a pothole. Every so often, Sebastian found himself sneaking glances at Amity. She had him quite worried, she was staring straight forward, not saying a word. She had been that way for over an hour now. The more time went on, the more concerned he became. With some hesitation, he slowly took Amity’s hand in his own, trying to give her a gentle piece of comfort and a silent support as if to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Hey, I’m here!’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>with a squeeze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the first time during the drive, she moved her head and looked at him. She watched the man drive and felt her heart ache at the simple gesture. She certainly felt like a monster right now and was glad that at the least, he was in her corner.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t stop thinking about the what ifs. That perhaps if she never invited Ruby then maybe she wouldn’t have been hurt, that maybe if she had said no to going to the party, she wouldn’t have seen that vile creature who violated her body again. But here she was in yet another moment of pain, but this time, it wasn’t simply her that was hurt. And that’s when she suddenly remembered, it wasn’t just her and Ruby that were hurt. Was Ty ok? He was there too. Fear bubbled in her chest again as she looked to Sebastian.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is Ty ok? I’ve been so out of my mind I didn’t even think to ask him if he was ok when he was standing next to the car,” Amity said with a whimper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I promise you Amity, he’s ok. He helped fight them off, he was otherwise unharmed. If you texted him right now, he would probably even tell you that,” Sebastian offered with a smile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She still couldn’t help the guilt and fear that resided within her, knowing she had greatly disappointed the man cradling her friend's broken body. Amity didn’t know if she was ever going to be able to fix the rift between them.</span>
</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Healing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Healing takes time, and for the friends this is simply the beginning.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Edited 8/05/2021: I assure you guys the story is continuing. I have so far written all the way up to chapter 24 and I'm currently writing chapter 25, I'm currently in the process of finding someone to help with the editing as my current editor has a lot going on in his life and has been unable to edit for the last few months. If someone can't be found I'm going to need to take a short course to learn how to edit and make everything tidy and comprehensive. Word count is sitting around 84,000 and I'm really hoping I can push some chapters out to you all soon. </p><p>Hi guys! I have multiple chapters to come that are awaiting editing! Thank you for your patience during this time. We're just about to come to a close in the first part of the story, but there is still so much more to come! I look forward to showing you all what we have been up to!</p><p>This is my first big writing project and we are learning as we go. Please feel free to comment or leave feedback, if you're enjoying the story I would love to know! Credit for editing pre-posting goes to my good friend, Rick Leonard (Helmsman). This is an original story and all characters and story are of my creation, I own the copyright to this story.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After a long descent down the mountain and quiet drive back to his home, Sebastian had finally arrived at his destination. He brought the car to a stop in the drive-way and rushed to the passenger side door, scooping Amity up into his arms. Small hands clutched at the material covering his chest as he walked into his house and made his way towards his room.</p><p>“Sebastian! I didn’t expect you to be home just yet!” his mother called softly from her office. As she stepped out and saw the young woman in his arms she gasped.</p><p>“You’re not going to like what I have to tell you, and you’re going to be just as surprised. I need to put her down, but someone else needs your attention first,” he stated gruffly before moving towards his bedroom once more.</p><p>He set the woman down carefully on his bed and reached out to tuck the loose white hairs on her face neatly behind her ears. Turning on his heel, he walked back out of the room. As he left his room, Zain walked through the door holding Ruby’s badly injured body close to his chest. Sebastian dared to glance at his mother who, upon seeing the injured girl, was seething. </p><p>“In my office, you can put her on the desk just let me clear it quickly,” she demanded. </p><p>The two men followed behind her quickly, Sebastian taking a chair in the corner of the room while Zain waited to place her down. Sebastian’s mother worked quickly to move the loose pens, papers and her laptop from the table before gesturing to Zain to set the girl down.</p><p>“Mrs. Harland, I am so sorry for intruding on you like this. I really hope you don’t mind, it was the only way we could convince Ruby to get help and Seb said you wouldn’t mind… I’m sorry,” Zain apologised softly.</p><p>“I’m a doctor not a Mrs, but I’ll let that slide this once. I do wish Sebastian had told me ahead of time, but if he didn’t. I understand that there must be a substantial reasoning,” Doctor Harland asked as she quirked a brow.</p><p>“She was attacked by a group of men, men that another of our friends knew. Ruby wouldn’t go to hospital because she was worried about her fathers reaction… he is an abusive man, I hope you understand.”</p><p>“Yes of course; you need discretion. Don’t worry I do understand,” she looked down at the sleeping, injured woman, “How exactly did she sustain the injuries?”</p><p>“They kicked her in the ribs repeatedly, punched her, dragged her. I don’t know more than what I saw with my own eyes,” Sebastian muttered from the corner of the room. Doctor Harland’s eyes flashed dangerously as she looked to him and then back down at the injured woman.</p><p>Both men had been shooed from the doctor’s office, and taken up residence on the couch in the loungeroom. Sebastian could hear a heavy sigh escaping Zain’s lips and he watched the man throw back his head as he groaned with frustration.</p><p>“What’s up with you?” Sebastian asked.</p><p>“This whole thing is bullshit and I honestly feel like an asshole,” Zain muttered.</p><p>“Hm,” Sebastian grunted softly with a nod, thinking about Amity. Zain was nasty to her. But he also understood the reason why. “Well, I can’t speak on behalf of Amity, but I would suggest speaking to her at some point and having an actual conversation, just the two of you so you get each other.”</p><p>“Do you really think we can fix this?”</p><p>“Yes, Amity doesn’t want to hurt any of us. She wants more than anything to protect us. She already feels like she failed, you are piling that on top of her which has her punishing herself. Don’t get me wrong I’m fucking angry about it, if I could punch you I would. But she would hate that.”</p><p>“Something I’m grateful for, I would rather not be on the receiving end of one of your punches. I’ll take your word that this can be fixed. I’m sorry that I hurt her even more. You’re my best friend, I know when she hurts that you do too. I’m sorry man.”</p><p>The men looked at each other solemnly and sat in silence until the door to the office had been opened. Doctor Harland gave Zain a pointed look before moving out of his way to let him through. She watched him enter the room and close the door with a small smile on her face before she turned a deep scowl towards her son.</p><p>“Now, tell me the whole truth. Who are these people Sebastian? And no lies,” she snarled. </p><p>The she-wolf sat across from him, legs crossed with an expectant look on her face while she waited for her son to collect his thoughts. Obviously whatever was going on was big enough for him to come to her seeking help and she wanted the whole truth no matter how much it hurt him to speak it. </p><p>Sebastian thought the best possible way to proceed when it came to his mother was with the truth. So he started from the beginning and how he met her, his initial reaction to her and how he reacted after he found her. He told her about how he had been training her to protect herself, that the injuries he came back home with were the result of her snapping after he triggered her traumatic memories. He told his mother about how he had been protecting her and providing her with friendship for the last twelve months during her recovery—and then he told her about his feelings for the young woman. How he’d been fighting with his own urges towards her for the last couple of months until recently; when they went camping and laid everything out bare. He told his mother of his concerns about starting a relationship with her, when he knew they were set to be leaving soon, and his guilt for telling Amity the truth in the first place.</p><p>And then he told his mother about when he first started developing suspicions of her being a wolf and about the first time she saw his wolf and her responding with fear to his presence that night at the lake told him that she didn’t know about herself. He told her about the party they attended, how it was a mostly tame night, up until the trio of friends had gone to the bathroom and he received the panicked call from Ruby.</p><p>The more he told his mother, the deeper her scowl became.</p><p>“So, what happened when you found those boys?” Sebastian’s mother questioned.</p><p>“Ty, Kyle and I surrounded them. Eli, the one that raped Amity was holding her down and making her watch as Ruby was beaten… and then she also had to watch as Ty killed him,” he said softly.</p><p>“Killed him?”</p><p>“Yes. But he wasn’t the first that night. I snapped a man’s neck when I was defending Ty. He also wasn’t the last to die. I told Eli I wasn’t going to kill him, but that Amity could do that herself now.”</p><p>“Sebastian… was that boy in there involved?” she asked, referring to Zain in the next room.</p><p>“No, mother. He doesn’t know what any of us did. But… after I said Amity could do it herself, mother, she shifted. She became a wolf right in front of Ty, Kyle and myself. She shifted and she tore those men to pieces. She went feral, but I restrained her. She doesn’t remember the shift, she doesn’t remember killing those men. She passed out soon after, and the guys helped me hide everything and clean up.”</p><p>“Where are the bodies now?”</p><p>“They’re buried under several layers of dirt and bloody animal carcasses. They know I’m a wolf, I had to shift in order to hunt a deer.”</p><p>Sebastian watched his mother carefully as different emotions washed over her in waves. She couldn’t hide her disbelief at the situation or the fear over her son’s actions. He could have potentially blown their cover. </p><p>“Your actions could very well have just exposed us to the world. I hope, my son, that they don’t find what you left behind,” she muttered.</p><p>“Mother I promise, we didn’t leave anything behind. There are no witnesses left behind. I took care of them all,” Sebastian grumbled.</p><p>“That aside, what is a wolf doing on the mainland? I thought we were the only ones.”</p><p>“Now I don’t have the answer to that, if I did I would tell you. I…” Sebastian looked hesitant for a moment but then continued,  “I still want to move forward with leaving.”</p><p>“Do you think she would join us?”</p><p>“No, mother, I don’t. She has too many connections here. Her parents are human, her best friend is human, I can smell it on them. This is where she belongs. I shouldn’t have done it, but I taught her to fight knowing I wouldn’t be there to protect her after graduation. If there is one gift I can give her, it will be that. I care about her mother, but she doesn’t belong with us.”</p><p>“She will die here.”</p><p>“I don’t know about that. You don’t know here like I do. Would you like to meet her?”</p><p>Sebastian rose from the lounge and walked toward his bedroom with his mother trailing behind him. The door creaked at the joints as he pushed it open to reveal her sleeping form. She must have moved herself under the covers. She was tucked comfortably into his blankets with a peaceful look on her face. His mother looked on at the woman in astonishment.</p><p>“White hair? How about her eyes?” Doctor Harland asked quickly.</p><p>“Her eyes are as blue as a mountain lake,” Sebastian said with a wistful smile.</p><p>“She was touched by The Great Mother herself.”</p><p>“How can you be so sure?” Sebastian asked as he reeled away from her in his shock.</p><p>“Our ancestor, he was touched by The Great Mother as well. But, he failed her mission.”</p><p>“I know that is why we must complete it. But mother, we chose this path. She’s not like us. Please, don’t tell her.”</p><p>“As long as you stick to your path, I promise. Now, is there anything I can do for her health?”</p><p>“I don’t think so. She’s stiff and sore from the shift but I remember you telling me once that we all experience it. I just want to be alone with her for a while. Thank you, mother.”</p><p>Sebastian sat by his bedside after his mother left his room and simply watched her sleep. Each breath causing the rise and fall of her chest, soft mumblings passing through her delicate rosy lips as she dreamed. He wanted so badly to wake her and tell her the life she was living was a lie, to bring her with him when he left. He didn’t want to leave her behind. He wanted a life and a future with her, but his purpose had already been predetermined and if he could prevent Amity from being yet another puppet, he would try his hardest to prevent it from happening. He had already given her the ability to protect herself should she ever need it; he didn’t know what else he could do. Perhaps that was a conversation better had with Kyle and Ty, they would know better than anyone what to do and how to protect her.</p><p>It was decided that until the original holiday was set to conclude, the two women would be taken to the safety of Amity’s home while they recovered. Zain had staunchly refused to go back home while he knew that Ruby was in pain, and opted to stay by her side through her recovery period. Doctor Harland had made sure to stress to both Amity and Zain how poor the small woman’s condition was while she was assessing her on her office table. </p><p>Ruby had multiple broken ribs and was slightly malnourished, not enough for the untrained eye to notice, but enough for a professional to see it. Her bruising was beginning to heal but it still left her tender and after the hits taken to her head, she had sustained mild amnesia. She, like Amity, couldn't remember specific details. She couldn’t remember how she got certain places, who took her there, and what happened earlier that night. She had also been given a broken nose during the ordeal and having that reset by Doctor Harland when she woke up had her screaming. </p><p>The silver lining of the situation was that she somehow managed to escape with nothing more than internal bruising to her stomach. Given that the alternative was internal bleeding, Amity was praising whatever lucky stars she had left that her friend wasn’t at severe risk of complications. </p><p>During the week that Ruby had spent at the Harland’s home, she’d received many visitors. Sebastian, Zain and Amity were a given, but Ezra had made a few special trips over the week with Ruby’s favourite pie and snacks. She had heard from Zain that she was underfed and this was something that Ezra seemed to take great personal offence too.</p><p>“Not one of my friends, I’m not letting it happen. I’ve been underfed and on the verge of starving before, no one else should have to experience that. What are her favourites? I’ll cook them up myself and bring them,” Ezra demanded. </p><p>Ruby had ended up with so much pie during that week, that she would surely have left overs for the next couple of days. </p><p>Ty had also visited Ruby, offering his quiet company as he sketched away on a small notepad while she relaxed and read a book. He never had much to say, but sometimes one could be glad for the silence that came with company.</p><p>Kyle on the other hand was a whole other story. He was just so full of energy and conversation that she sometimes didn’t know if she had the capability of keeping up. He made up for most of the conversation, even when sketching on his drawing pad or playing with his handheld console, he kept talking. It was a quiet comfort in it’s own way.</p><p>Doctor Harland didn’t deem Ruby ready to leave her residence until she was able to sit up a little more freely, and she had seen some solid meals given to the girl. It was clear to the doctor that whatever her current living situation was, she was not being looked after appropriately. Hell, when she checked the woman's ribs the first time she could feel the evidence of older healed breaks, and not just one. Multiple. She felt immense pity for her the day that she had sent her home with Amity. </p><p>“She’s going to need a lot of food to get her healthy again, no heavy lifting or sudden movements. Take it slow with her, you can get these pain killers from the pharmacy. I mean it: proper nutrition, and give her those pills. She can either take a long time to heal or a shorter one. It’s up to her will to recover, and to your persistence. I want you to bring her back every couple of weeks so I can perform check ups. Got it?” Doctor Harland commanded the group. </p><p>“Yes Doctor,” they replied in unison.</p><p>○☾✩☪✩☽○</p><p>Sebastian and Zain were sitting in the loungeroom playing video games, while Ruby had been carefully wrapped up in a soft blanket and placed on the recliner above Zain’s head. Amity was in the kitchen serving them up a considerably basic Spaghetti Bolognese she had made for dinner. She wished she had Ezra there at that moment, but, <em> “packet shit” </em>, as Ezra often called it, was what everyone would have to settle for.</p><p>Zain was diligent in making sure Ruby ate enough, even going so far as to give her extra from his plate so that she could gain some weight before she had to go back to the home she had dubbed hell. Amity would watch with a soft smile as the man would blush and claim it was doctors’ orders. She knew very well that this was not the case, but caring for the smaller woman seemed to make him happy—and she was not about to step on his toes by telling him she knew any different. She just wanted Ruby to be happy above all else.</p><p>After dinner had concluded, Ruby had opted to head to bed early. Healing a broken body was tiring work and she was thankful that none of the people around her were judging her for it when she needed the rest. It had taken her time, but after the weeks she spent in recovery she herself had found positions she was much more comfortable lying in, that didn’t hurt her. It was a small bit of progress that gave Ruby the drive to want to continue getting better. </p><p>Sebastian got up from his spot on the floor and collected everyone’s plate. He gave a pointed look to Zain and then made a subtle motion towards Amity before he left the room.</p><p>Amity was laid back on the lounge as she watched Zain play the game on the TV. Suddenly he stopped, and when she looked at him, she found him floundering. He opened and closed his mouth many times while he tried to find the words to speak. Amity waited patiently for him to go first.</p><p>“I know I’ve said this before, but I’m sorry. Again. I don’t mean to be an asshole, I swear. The first time when you cut up Sebastian, I didn’t know that you were reacting because of the things that happened to you and I can’t tell you how much I regret the way I acted that day,” Zain spoke softly.</p><p>“You know you don’t have to apologise for that again, you’ve already done so once, and I already forgave you. I know why you did it and I don’t have a place to judge. You were protecting your friend,” Amity assured him.</p><p>“Even still, what about when I went off on you for not protecting Ruby? I had no right. Sebastian said it’s because of you that nothing worse happened to Ruby and for that I owe you my thanks and my apologies. I keep making these assumptions that the bad things that happen are your fault but it’s not the case and I’m sorry Amity. I care about Ruby, but it never gave me a right to go after you the way I did. I won’t stop telling you that I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Like I said, you don’t need to be sorry. I understand why you said it, but if it makes you feel better, I accept your apology.”</p><p>“It would make me feel even better if we could give it a solid try at being actual friends. I don’t want there to be this animosity between us, it’s not right. You’ve not done anything wrong. You’ve been a victim too.”</p><p>“You know… I think I’m ok with that Zain. Let’s try again!” </p><p>The two beamed at each other brightly from across the room. They knew no friendship between them would be easy at the start, but they were willing to try—for the sake of themselves and their friends. They were willing to move past their prior problems and get along well enough to be the people their friends needed them to be.</p><p>Before too long, things had returned to some semblance of normal. The only thing that had changed was Ruby’s living arrangements. The woman was now bouncing between the couches of her friends' houses while they studied for their final exams. Graduation was so close that the group of friends could almost touch it. After that, it would be out and into the real world for the first time for a lot of them. Where would they end up after that? There would be no way of telling until they were there. </p><p>It was the second last day of school before the exams took place, and the group of friends were all sitting in Amity’s room. Ty and Kyle were sitting on Amity’s bed sketching as they usually did, while Ezra sat happily in the armchair by the window jotting down basic notes from her English class. Zain and Ruby were hunched over some texts they shared from their science classes and whispered quietly to each other, while Amity and Sebastian compared notes from their history lesson.</p><p>Studying together could go well for the friends, they either achieved a lot and were able to easily aid each other with certain topics, or they would disrupt each other and forget why they were gathered in the first place. Over the course of the week, their friendships felt like they had come closer than before and solidified for a lifetime. Amity genuinely loved and cared for these people, she would go to the ends of the earth for them, and she felt lucky that she got to share a monumental occasion with people so important to her. To think, merely a year ago, she had so strongly closed herself off to outside connections. These people made everything worth it.</p><p>There was a shift with her relationship with Sebastian as well. She often felt the man looking at her, smiling as he watched her do simple actions. She would blush as he found any excuse to touch her or be near her. Then as the friends had bid her farewell the night of the final exam, he had stolen a heated kiss from her that had the woman feeling like she was blushing with her entire body. </p><p>He left her breathless in what she thought were all the best ways. He took up residence in her mind during the late nights that left her heated with desire, longing for his hands to replace her own when she found pleasure in herself. </p><p>She had the thought that, maybe, after they graduated and had nothing to distract themselves any longer, she could approach pursuing a relationship with Sebastian. She cared about him deeply, but she never cared to label it because she had so many issues of her own to work on; and being distracted from school wouldn’t help either of them if they needed a good result later. </p><p>Tomorrow was the second last step to taking just one of the things she wanted in life, and as much as she hoped to score well, with her aspirations she was hoping it wouldn’t matter too much. Her fingers ghosted over her lips as she thought of Sebastian and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.</p>
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